Gary Lineker is hugely popular on Twitter. After all, the former footballer has 8.8 million followers. But the cult expert recently got the tone wrong. He specifically criticized the British government’s new asylum law. In the new asylum law, it was decided that the British government would initially hold migrants who enter the country without official permission in shelters. They will then be deported to Rwanda or other countries. The migrants should be deprived of the right to apply for asylum. The BBC expert chose the Nazi comparison and thus downplayed the crimes of the Third Reich.
“This is an immeasurably cruel policy, targeting those most at risk, in language not unlike that of Germany in the 1930s, and am I out of my mind?” Lineker wrote in response Critics who accused him of not being entirely sane. The broadcaster then took the consequences and kicked Gary Lineker out.
The BBC justified the decision by saying that Lineker had violated the broadcaster’s neutrality guidelines. As a result, several of his colleagues showed solidarity with Lineker. Former soccer players Ian Wright and Alan Shearer refused to go on the air without him. The premier football show, Match of the Day, which Lineker has been the face of for more than 20 years, was then broadcast with no moderation, player interviews or expert opinions. In addition, several other radio and television programs had to be canceled after numerous BBC employees joined the boycott.
But Tim Davie wants Gary Lineker back on the air. The dispute over a tweet by Gary Lineker severely restricted the BBC’s football coverage on Saturday. “Gary is an excellent TV journalist. To me, success means Gary is back on the air,” the BBC’s director-general said in an interview with the channel, according to the BBC on Sunday.
Davie apologized for the limited football coverage. However, he did not want to apologize for Lineker’s suspension. It’s about finding the right balance between freedom of the press and neutrality, said the BBC boss responsible for editorial content. The former conservative politician emphasized that it is not about political directions.