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Gary Lineker will step down as a presenter for MOTD as a result of the BBC's investigation into his 'Nazi' tweet that landed the former England striker in hot water.
The BBC came under pressure from the government following Lineker's tweets that were harshly critical of Rishi Sunak's policies. They were in discussions with the 62-year-old pundit throughout the week.
They released a statement on Friday confirming that the former Barcelona striker will be stepping down from MOTD for the foreseeable future.
The controversy began when Gary Lineker tweeted a video of Home Secretary Suella Braverman which revealed the government's latest plans for the illegal migration bill. He termed the policy to be awful in his tweet. Lineker tweeted:
"Good heavens, this is beyond awful."
The former Barcelona star went further into his criticism when in one of the replies to his tweet, he likened the government's policy to that of Nazi Germany's policy from the 1930s. 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, and I'm out of order?"
Gary Lineker finds support from his colleagues from MOTD as Ian Wright and Alan Shearer will not be presenting this weekend
In their statement, the BBC said that Gary Lineker will be stepping down as a result of his recent social media activity, which was found to be in breach of their guidelines. The statement read (via The Guardian):
“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."
Fellow Match of the Day pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer have confirmed that they will be sitting out this weekend's edition of MOTD.
Wright tweeted:
"Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity."
Shearer released a statement of solidarity, tweeting:
"I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night."
Gary Lineker has been with MOTD since the 1990s and it is a shame to see his stint with them come to an end this way.
