Gary Lineker, the host of Match of the Day, revealed that he shed a tear when fellow presenters Ian Wright and Alan Shearer quit the show in solidarity with him over a BBC impartiality controversy.
Lineker has been hauled off the air for a tweet opposing government asylum policy.
In protest of Lineker’s suspension, Shearer, Wright, and other BBC sports presenters including Jermaine Jenas and Alex Scott refused to appear on air.
“I must admit I had a tear in my eye,” he said on the podcast The Rest is Politics.
Speaking to hosts Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart about people who backed him.
Lineker remarked,
“That was simply amazing.”
“When it first occurred, it was one thing to say that briefly, but it was unnecessary for them to follow through with it.”
Lineker’s own production company, Goalhanger Podcasts, produces the podcast The Rest is Politics.
On March 7, Lineker tweeted that the government’s asylum policy was “incalculably cruel” and that the terminology used was “akin to that employed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman had said she was disappointed by the statements, but Lineker said he stated he will try to keep standing up for refugees.
The BBC initially stated it was having a “frank chat” with Lineker about the BBC’s obligation to be impartial, before yanking him off air on 10 March.
It was front-page news for several days, with politicians and media commentators weighing in.
Match of the Day continued to air on BBC One but was reduced to a 20-minute edition without its host, experts, or commentary, and additional football coverage was canceled.
The program’s viewership increased by nearly half a million as media coverage intensified.
Stewart branded the situation a “full-blown disaster” for the BBC, while Lineker responded:
“I’m still perplexed”. “I added that some of the terminologies are comparable to that used in the early 1930s in Germany, which was never meant to be a connection to the Holocaust,” he said in his tweet.
He went on that the response to his tweet was “silly – it shouldn’t have been”.
“I love the BBC. “I’ve been there for nearly 30 years, but people make mistakes, they acknowledge that, they’ve addressed it, and we’re all back to work now, thank goodness,” he said.
Before being removed from the air, Lineker tweeted that the matter was “ridiculously blown out of proportion.”
In addition, he told the program he did not believe his tweet was “especially provocative.”
The television host asserted that he and BBC director general Tim Davie had previously decided upon the topics on which he would speak out.
“I’ve been involved with a charity and the refugee crisis for a very long time. When I first met Tim Davie, when he presented his guidelines, we had a conversation, and I told him that I would continue to advocate for two issues. I will not back down. And he agreed.
“One of them was about the refugee crisis and the other one was about climate change.”
When Gary Lineker was reinstated to Match of the Day the following weekend, Mr. Davie said he had not backed down in the face of outrage over the issue.
The director-general informed the BBC that he took “proportionate measures” after a controversy over impartiality emerged following Lineker’s tweet criticizing the government’s asylum program.
“We believe we did the right thing,” he added. I think I did the right thing.”
The BBC has been contacted by BBC News for comment on Lineker’s allegation that he and Mr. Davie had previously reached an agreement over the topics the former player would continue to discuss publicly.
“Typical floating voter”
On March 13, Davie announced an independent review of the BBC’s social media guidelines, which Lineker backed.
The controversy over Lineker’s tweet prompted further calls for BBC chairman Richard Sharp to go, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey stating that the presenter’s suspension “demonstrates failure at the very top.”
Mr. Sharp’s appointment is being investigated over his relationship with Boris Johnson. He denies wrongdoing.
The BBC is also undertaking its own internal inquiry regarding any potential conflicts of interest Mr. Sharp may have in his present job as BBC chairman.
Gary Lineker said:
“I believe it’s incredibly difficult. Before discussing the impartiality of anyone else, the government of the day, regardless of whether it’s Tory or Labour, cannot choose the chairman of the BBC or have any influence over who they appoint as the director of news, among other positions.”
“That for me is where it needs to start. Aside from that, it is extremely difficult.
Calling himself a “freelance guy that works on football”, Lineker stressed he would not discuss politics between now and the general election.
“I won’t get involved. I’ve never said who I vote for, ever. I vote for several different parties at various stages for various reasons. “To be honest, I’m kind of your prototypical floating voter,” he said.
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