Gary Lineker pulled from BBC presenting after migration row | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
Gary Lineker pulled from BBC presenting after migration row

World+Biz

Reuters
11 March, 2023, 09:00 am
Last modified: 11 March, 2023, 09:08 am

Related News

  • Gary Lineker’s fallout once again exposes Western media’s selective moral compass on Palestine
  • Kashmir attack: India govt writes to BBC over its reports terming 'terrorists' as 'militants'
  • 'His memories uncovered a secret jail right next to an international airport', BBC reports on Aynaghar survivors
  • Is a public-funded media outlet a viable option in Bangladesh?
  • BBC complains to Apple over fake news AI notification

Gary Lineker pulled from BBC presenting after migration row

Reuters
11 March, 2023, 09:00 am
Last modified: 11 March, 2023, 09:08 am
Soccer Football - TV pundit and former England captain Gary Lineker is seen inside the stadium before the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Liverpool - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - April 16, 2022. Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine/File Photo
Soccer Football - TV pundit and former England captain Gary Lineker is seen inside the stadium before the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester City and Liverpool - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - April 16, 2022. Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine/File Photo

Highlights

  • Lineker presents flagship Match of the Day programme
  • Ex-England captain criticised Britain's migration policy
  • BBC says Lineker's recent tweets breached guidance
  • BBC wants agreement with Lineker on use of social media
  • Wright, Shearer say won't appear on MOTD in "solidarity"

Former England soccer captain Gary Lineker has been taken off air by the BBC after his comments on Britain's migration policy sparked a furious row between the government and the corporation's highest paid presenter.

Lineker was told there has to be an agreed position on his use of social media before he can return, the BBC said on Friday, with Director General Tim Davie saying it had taken a "proportionate action".

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The row overshadowed a migration deal struck between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, with the BBC accused of bowing to political pressure.

"Gary Lineker off air is an assault on free speech in the face of political pressure," the opposition Labour party said, calling for the BBC to re-think its decision.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the BBC's move "indefensible".

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Individual cases are a matter for the BBC."

NEW LAW

On Tuesday, Britain announced details of a new law which would see migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel prevented from claiming asylum and deported either back to their homeland or to so-called safe third countries.

It drew criticism from opposition parties, charities and the U.N.'s refugee agency for its impact on genuine refugees.

Lineker, who has previously hosted refugees in his home, retweeted a post featuring a video of interior minister Suella Braverman talking about the law, with the comment "Good heavens, this is beyond awful".

Challenged by a respondent, he said: "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?"

Lineker faced a backlash to his comments, which were criticised by Sunak's spokeswoman as "not acceptable", but said he would "continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice".

The BBC said after talks with Lineker and his team that it had decided he would step back from presenting its flagship Match of the Day (MOTD) soccer highlights programme "until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media".

The Bectu union, which represents thousands of BBC workers, said the corporation's move was "deeply concerning".

After four of the show's regular pundits, former England players Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards said they did not wish to appear on the programme without Lineker, the BBC said Saturday's edition would "focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."

MOTD commentator Steve Wilson later tweeted that the show's commentators had also pulled out from Saturday's broadcast, leaving BBC management reliant on World Feed commentary.

BREACH OF GUIDELINES

Lineker has hosted MOTD for over 20 years and the charismatic 62-year-old has never been afraid to voice his opinions about political issues.

But the BBC said it considered his recent social media activity to be a breach of its guidelines.

"We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can't have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies," it added.

The BBC, funded by what is in effect a 159 pounds ($192)annual "license fee" tax on all television-watching households, has a central presence in British cultural life. It says it is committed to being politically impartial.

Lineker, who played for clubs including his home town Leicester City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona, is the BBC's highest paid personality, earning more than 1.3 million pounds in 2021/22. He is yet to comment on his suspension.

Last year the BBC's complaints unit ruled Lineker had failed to meet editorial standards on impartiality when he sent a tweet asking whether the governing Conservative Party would give back money from Russian donors.

BBC Chair Richard Sharp is under pressure for failing to declare his involvement in facilitating a loan for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson shortly before he was appointed to the role. His appointment, made on the recommendation of the government, is now being reviewed by Britain's public appointments watchdog.

Reactions: 

FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND NICOLA STURGEON

"As a strong supporter of public service broadcasting, I want to be able to defend the BBC. But the decision to take Gary Lineker off air is indefensible. It is undermining free speech in the face of political pressure - & it does always seem to be right-wing pressure it caves to."

TV HOST PIERS MORGAN

"It's now a sackable offence in Britain to express an opinion. What a pathetic state of affairs."

MOTD PUNDIT AND FORMER ARSENAL PLAYER IAN WRIGHT

"Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I've told the BBC I won't be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity."

MOTD PUNDIT AND FORMER NEWCASTLE UNITED PLAYER ALAN SHEARER

"I have informed the BBC that I won't be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night."

LABOUR PARTY'S HOME AFFAIRS SPOKESPERSON YVETTE COOPER

"The focus on this is being used by the government, both to find someone to blame and also to distract from their own serious failures."

FORMER LABOUR LEADER JEREMY CORBYN

"Well done Gary Lineker for standing up for refugees. Well done Ian Wright for showing the meaning of solidarity."

Top News

Gary Lineker / BBC

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bangladesh's delegation, led by Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, began high-level negotiations with USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer at 9pm Bangladesh time on Thursday (10 July). Photo: Collected from the Facebook handle of Golam Mortoza, Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in the US
    No need to worry as US tariff talks ongoing: Fouzul tells biz leaders
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case
  • Representational image. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Explainer: Why SSC pass rate hit a 17-year low

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS

Related News

  • Gary Lineker’s fallout once again exposes Western media’s selective moral compass on Palestine
  • Kashmir attack: India govt writes to BBC over its reports terming 'terrorists' as 'militants'
  • 'His memories uncovered a secret jail right next to an international airport', BBC reports on Aynaghar survivors
  • Is a public-funded media outlet a viable option in Bangladesh?
  • BBC complains to Apple over fake news AI notification

Features

Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

6h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

9h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

9h | Panorama
Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS

11 July 2024: Riot vehicles, water cannons hit the streets as police crack down on protesters

2h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

5h | TBS World
OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

5h | TBS World
Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

6h | TBS Today
July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

5h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net