Celebrity

27 favourite things people are saying about Gary Lineker after he was dropped from Match of the Day

John Plunkett. Updated March 11th, 2023

They thought it was all over, but it turned out it was only just beginning.

The Gary Lineker saga took a dramatic extra time twist on Friday after the BBC dropped him from Match of the Day over his perfectly legitimate criticism of the government’s immigration policy.

Here’s what the BBC said about it.

‘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.’

Things escalated further when Lineker’s colleagues Ian Wright and Alan Shearer both said they wouldn’t be appearing as a gesture of solidarity with the Match of the Day presenter.

Here’s what Wright had to say.

And Shearer.

And then BBC Sport commentators said they wouldn’t take part either. Here’s what one of them, Steve Wilson, had to say.

It really was quite the day for the BBC after the Guardian reported it was not broadcasting an episode of David Attenborough’s flagship new series for fear of upsetting right wing types.

Which brings us back to Lineker, whose future at the BBC remains entirely uncertain. These 23 tweets surely sum up best where we find ourselves right now.

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