British football personalities step up to defend free speech

The BBC’s sports coverage this weekend is in meltdown as sports star presenters and journalists boycotted shows plunging the corporation into a scheduling crisis.

Football Focus and Final Score were axed on Saturday as the row over impartiality and Gary Lineker’s controversial tweets intensified.

Saturday’s Match Of The Day (MOTD) was set to go ahead without a presenter or pundits after Lineker, the BBC’s highest paid presenter, was told to step back from hosting the show after he criticised the Government’s handling of the asylum crisis.

The BBC said it had “decided” Lineker would take a break from presenting the highlights programme until an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media had been reached.

The move prompted both Ian Wright and Alan Shearer to announce on Friday that they too would boycott the show in solidarity with Lineker.

But, any hope the BBC had of limiting the fallout were scuppered when a flurry of presenters joined what was fast becoming a mass walkout.

At 10.25am on Saturday, the former England player Alex Scott announced that she will not be presenting Football Focus on Saturday.

Glenn Murray, a key pundit on the BBC sports team, then ruled himself out of appearing on both Football Focus and Final Score.

The former Brighton striker tweeted: “Was meant to be up in Media City today but reflecting last night I felt it was the right thing to do to step away from Focus & Score today.

Even the Professional Footballers’ Association waded in to offer players support if they wanted to refuse BBC interviews following weekend matches.

“We have been informed that players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with Match Of The Day,” a spokesman said.

“The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight’s programme.

“During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments.

“This is a common-sense decision that ensures players won’t now be put in that position.”

Meanwhile, an online petition calling for Gary Lineker to be reinstated in his post on Match Of The Day reached its target of 100,000 signatures in just 10 hours.

MOTD was effectively being hit for the first time in its 59-year history by strike action by its presenters.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/11/gary-lineker-alex-scott-bbc-football-focus-final-score-cancel/

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