Gary Lineker, a popular former soccer player and sports commentator, has been reinstated to co-host the programme Match of the Day from the BBC. He had been suspended in recent days after posting some criticisms of the British government’s new immigration law proposal on his Twitter account.
It will be back on the air next weekend, after its suspension had also caused a political case and had led to the cancellation or reduction of a large part of the broadcaster’s sports programming: many presenters, guests and journalists had in fact decided to abstain from work in solidarity with Lineker.
Gary Lineker was one of the strongest, most appreciated and most popular English footballers: striker, he scored 48 goals with the English national team, played for Leicester, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham. He is also remembered as the author of that famous phrase about Germany always winning the World Cup, leads Match of the Day since 1999, is very famous (their Twitter has nearly 9 million followers) and highly paid by BBCabout 1.5 million euros a year.
He had been suspended for a tweet in which he compared the language used by British government ministers to speak of asylum seekers to that “used by Germany in the 1930s”. The general manager of BBC Tim Davie announced the reinstatement decision with a statement in which he also spoke of a review of the regulations on the use of social networks by those who work for BBC. He also defended the decision to suspend Lineker last weekend: «It wasn’t easy, but I think it was proportionate and that it was the right thing to do for the BBC».
Gary Lineker commented on the decision with a series of tweets, in which he thanked them for their solidarity and said that “as difficult as these days have been, they are simply not comparable to those of those who have to flee their homes to escape war or a persecution”.
A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you. 3/4
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) March 13, 2023