New Delhi: Former England football captain and host of the widely watched BBC show, “Match of the Day”, Gary Lineker, was removed from the show Friday, following a controversy over his remarks on the UK government’s proposed new policy towards asylum seekers. The move has, however, drawn criticism for BBC, with many from the sports fraternity standing up in solidarity with Lineker.
While retweeting a video from the the Home Office of UK on the asylum policy, Lineker had written, “Good heavens, this is beyond awful” . Lineker added, “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?”
Good heavens, this is beyond awful. https://t.co/f0fTgWXBwp
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) March 7, 2023
The British government led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has proposed to detain and remove people who enter the country illegally. The ‘Stop the Boats’ — or Illegal Migration — Bill aims to end illegal entry as a route to asylum in the UK, according to the government.
“People who arrive in the UK illegally will instead be detained and swiftly removed to their home country if safe, or another safe third country, such as Rwanda, where they will be supported to rebuild their lives,” read a statement by the British government. Under the bill, Parliament will set an annual cap on the number of refugees settled via “safe and legal routes”.
Following his tweets, the former England captain was asked to “step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media us,” BBC said in a statement. The statement added that Gary Lineker, should “keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies”.
“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.”, said the BBC statement.
The move caused BBC some embarrassment as major sports experts refused to come on the show.
“Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”, wrote former professional football player in “solidarity” with Gary Lineker.
Alan Shearer, who also presents on the show, said that he had informed the BBC that he “won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow (Saturday) night”. Ex-England player Alex Scott, among others, also indicated she would not go on the show.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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