LONDON, 12 Mar: The BBC\u2019s sports coverage faced a second day of severe disruptions Sunday as dozens of staff refused to work in solidarity with top soccer host Gary Lineker, who was suspended by the broadcaster after he tweeted criticism of the British government\u2019s asylum policy.
\nPressure was mounting on the BBC to resolve the crisis, with growing calls for its bosses to step down over allegations of political bias and suppressing free speech.
\nThe BBC suspended Lineker, one of English soccer\u2019s most lauded players and the corporation\u2019s highest-paid presenter, on Friday after he tweeted a criticism of the U.K. government\u2019s new migration policy and compared the its language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany.
\nThat triggered a huge backlash, and many of the BBC\u2019s sports presenters and reporters walked out of their jobs Saturday in support of Lineker.
\nAs a result, several daytime soccer shows were pulled at the last minute and \u201cMatch of the Day,\u201d a popular late-night program showing highlights of Premier League games that day and regarded as something of a British institution since the 1960s, aired with no commentary and only featured shortened footage. Usually lasting around an hour and a half, Saturday\u2019s \u201cMatch of the Day\u201d only aired for 20 minutes.
\nNo presenters are expected to accompany Sunday\u2019s coverage of the Women\u2019s Super League and \u201cMatch of the Day 2.\u201d
\nTim Davie, the BBC\u2019s director-general, apologized for the disruption.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a difficult day and I\u2019m sorry that audiences have been affected and they haven\u2019t got the programming,\u201d Davie said on Saturday. \u201cWe are working very hard to resolve the situation and make sure that we get output back on air.\u201d
\nLineker, 62, is one of Britain\u2019s most influential media figures and the BBC\u2019s highest earner, with an income of 1.35 million pounds ($1.6 million) last year.
\nOne of England\u2019s greatest strikers with 48 goals in 80 international appearances, he was a household name in Britain even before he became chief \u201cMatch of the Day\u201d presenter in 1999.
\nThe controversy began with a tweet on Tuesday from Lineker\u2019s account describing the government\u2019s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as \u201can immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.\u201d
\nThe Conservative government called Lineker\u2019s Nazi comparison offensive and unacceptable, and some lawmakers said he should be fired. AP<\/p>\n
It was the latest controversy over the role of the 100-year-old BBC, which is funded by a license fee paid by all households with a television.
\nThe broadcaster\u2019s neutrality came under recent scrutiny over revelations that its chairman, Richard Sharp \u2014 a Conservative Party donor \u2014 helped arrange a loan for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before he was appointed to the BBC post on the government\u2019s recommendation. AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON, 12 Mar: The BBC\u2019s sports coverage faced a second day of severe disruptions Sunday as dozens of staff refused to work in solidarity with top soccer host Gary Lineker, who was suspended by the broadcaster after he tweeted criticism of the British government\u2019s asylum policy. Pressure was mounting on the BBC to resolve the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-212657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}