Gary Lineker has already been taken off next weekend’s Match of the Day with the BBC seemingly hoping to convince Mark Chapman to host the programme. Lineker was stepped down from the Premier League highlights show this weekend amid a row with the broadcaster over his strong criticism of the government’s Illegal Migration Bill.
The former England striker will not present tonight’s Match of the Day. His ousting has prompted an exodus of on-screen staff who have backed down in solidarity with Lineker.
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer were due to provide punditry but pulled out on Friday evening. The BBC has announced that it will show a streamlined show with no studio presentation or punditry.
And its schedule for next weekend shows that Lineker has already been taken off the programme. The show’s description says: Mark Chapman introduces highlights of Brentford v Leicester and Chelsea v Everton.”
It is unclear if Lineker was definitely due to host next weekend’s edition. He is sometimes replaced by Chapman or fellow BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan when he is on holiday.
However, the BBC’s thumbnail image for the programme shows Lineker. It suggests that the public service broadcaster already has plans to replace the former England striker should he refuse to back down from comments he made suggesting language used by government ministers about refugees was akin to Nazi Germany.
Lineker quote-tweeted a video published by the Home Office and featuring home secretary Suella Braverman. He wrote: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s, and I’m out of order?”
The BBC initially backed their best-paid presenter but U-turned following bakclash from Conservative MPs and commentators. In a steaming row over BBC staff’s strict impartiality guidelines, Lineker was asked to step back until a position on his social media use is agreed.
Bringing in Chapman for next weekend’s Match of the Day could prove a challenge for BBC bosses. The 49-year-old was reportedly one of the sports presenters to step down from this weekend’s round of programmes in solidarity with Lineker.
At least two hours of Chapman’s BBC Radio 5 Live show were taken off their airwaves, broadcasting only rugby commentary and coverage of Leeds’s Premier League clash with Brighton by Ian Dennis.
It came after Football Focus and Final Score were replaced on the BBC’s schedule. Presenters Alex Scott and Jason Mohammad forced their respective programmes to be cancelled after insisting they would not go on the broadcaster this weekend.
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
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