BBC in meltdown as football shows axed after stars stage boycott over Gary Lineker

The BBC has apologised after its sports coverage descended into chaos on Saturday when presenters and pundits boycotted shows in support of Gary Lineker.

The corporation is struggling to contain an unprecedented crisis ignited when Lineker was told by the BBC to step back from hosting Match of the Day in a row over impartiality after he compared the government’s asylum policy to language employed by the German government in the 1930s.

Several stars have now staged a boycott in solidarity with the presenter, forcing the BBC to axe Football Focus, Fighting Talk and Final Score from its schedule. At one point, 5 Live resorted to replaying old pre-recorded material.

Questions are being raised over whether Sunday’s edition of Match of the Day 2 can go ahead. The BBC is said to be bracing for a “silent” Match of the Day on Saturday without commentators, with the show scaled back to just 20 minutes of air time.

BBC director general Tim Davie apologised for the disruption as he praised Lineker as “the best in the business” and said he wants to find a “reasonable solution” to get him back on air.

Mr Davie, who said he will not resign over the furore, added: “I’m very sorry for the disruption today. It’s been a difficult day and I’m sorry that audiences have been affected and they haven’t got the programming.

“As a keen sports fan, I know like everyone that to miss programming is a real blow and I am sorry about that. We are working very hard to resolve the situation and make sure that we get output back on air.”

It comes after:

• Rishi Sunak said he hopes the row is resolved in a ‘timely manner’

• BBC director general Tim Davie said he will not resign over Lineker row

• BBC presenters Alex Scott, Kelly Somers and Jason Mohammad pulled out of their shows, resulting in Football Focus and Final Score being scrapped

• The BBC announced Saturday’s Match of the Day would go ahead without pundits, presenters and commentators

• The corporation apologised for the disruption and insisted it was “working hard” to resolve the situation

• Sir Keir Starmer led the backlash against the BBC’s decision, accusing it of “caving in” to Conservative MPs

• The BBC was accused of an “assault on free speech” by suspending Lineker

The broadcaster also fears it cannot sack Lineker or force him to follow social media rules on impartiality because of ambiguities in his contract, The Independent understands.

Commenting on the so-called Stop The Boats Bill on Tuesday, Lineker on Twitter called it an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

The corporation would be forced to pay millions if it wanted to oust Lineker and would probably lose any legal claim brought by the Match of the Day presenter, senior figures believe.

The former England striker is understood to be on a two-year contract negotiated before Mr Davie was appointed. Mr Davie has repeatedly emphasised the importance of the BBC's impartiality and led a crackdown on BBC stars making political comments on social media.

But Lineker's contract was already in place and has not been updated, handing an important advantage to the presenter as the dispute intensifies. Lineker is following the letter of his contract but not the spirit of the rules imposed on presenters, a senior BBC figure told The Independent.

Bosses now hope to renegotiate their agreement with Lineker and put clearer rules in place to allow him to return to work.

The former director general Greg Dyke earlier said the BBC has “undermined its own credibility” by taking Lineker off air. Mr Dyke, the BBC director general between 2000 and 2004 and former FA chairman, said the broadcaster was “mistaken” in standing him down.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the BBC’s decision to take Lineker off the air is “a matter for them, not the government”.

In a statement, Mr Sunak said: “As prime minister, I have to do what I believe is right, respecting that not everyone will always agree. That is why I have been unequivocal in my approach to stopping the boats.”

He added that he hopes the issue can be resolved in a “timely manner” but defended his illegal immigration policy saying the government needed to “break the cycle of misery” created by criminal gangs trafficking people across the channel.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said the suspension was “an assault on free speech”, while party leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the BBC of “caving in” to Conservative MPs.

He added that at the heart of the row is the government’s “failure” on the asylum system. “What they should be doing is standing up, accepting they’ve broken the asylum system, and telling us what they’re going to do to actually fix it, not whingeing on about Gary Lineker,” Sir Keir said.

Speaking to The Independent, Chris Smith, a sports secretary for the Tony Blair government, said the BBC was making a “huge mistake”.

Mr Smith said that those calling for Lineker to be sacked are “precisely the same people who have been leaping up and down condemning cancel culture and lauding freedom of speech”. He added that the BBC should be “in favour of free speech in all settings”.

Meanwhile, Labour MP and former BBC reporter Ben Bradshaw claimed Tory MPs “losing their marbles” over Lineker’s tweet have merely been seeking to detract from “their latest unworkable” asylum bill. He added: “It’s completely blown up in their face.”

The controversy around Mr Lineker’s social media use comes as BBC chairman Richard Sharp is under investigation by William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments, following allegations he helped Boris Johnson secure a loan up to £800,000 weeks before he was recommended for the job by the then prime minister. The corporation is probing whether there has been any breach of its conflict of interest rules since Mr Sharp joined the corporation.

Former journalist Baroness Wheatcroft added to the pressure calling for “clearly party political” Mr Sharp to be suspended, while Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey said he should resign over the row. “We need leadership at the BBC that upholds our proud British values and can withstand today’s consistently turbulent politics and Conservative bullying tactics,” Sir Ed added.