Gary Lineker 'stepping back' from presenting Match of the Day over Nazi comparison
Gary Lineker has been suspended from presenting BBC's Match of the Day
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Gary Lineker is to "step back" from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement has been reached on social media use, the BBC has said.
The move follows an impartiality row over comments the presenter made criticising the government's new illegal immigration policy.
There has been mounting pressure on the former England footballer after he compared the Government’s new proposed approach on Channel migrants to 1930s Germany.
Rishi Sunak has continued to defend the Government’s new immigration policy, saying “I hope everyone over time realises that this is the right approach”.
The BBC has said Gary Lineker will be suspended until an agreement has been reached on social media use
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A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.
“The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match Of The Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.
“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.
“We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”
It is not yet clear who will stand in for him during Saturday’s edition of Match Of The Day.
The row was sparked by his response on Twitter to a Home Office video in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the Government’s plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
He wrote: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“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.”
Lineker told reporters that he stood by his comments
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He has since faced criticism from Downing Street, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and Braverman, who accused him of “diminishing the unspeakable tragedy” of the Holocaust.
But in the face of the backlash he has refused to back down and continued to antagonise those who disagree with him.
Speaking to reporters outside his London home yesterday, Lineker said he stood by his comments.
Lineker is a freelance broadcaster for the BBC, not a permanent member of staff, and is not responsible for news or political content so does not need to adhere to the same rules on impartiality.