Lineker row threatens to topple BBC chiefs and hit Tory asylum plans

theguardian.com:

The row triggered by Gary Lineker’s suspension from the BBC was spiralling out of control on Saturday night as it threatened to bring down the corporation’s most senior leaders and even derail parts of the government’s controversial new asylum policy.

The crisis reached new heights as the BBC was forced to dramatically scale down its TV and radio sports coverage and put its Match of the Day programme – normally fronted by Lineker – on air without presenters, pundits or the normal post-match interviews with players, many of whom came out in solidarity with him. The show, scheduled for 80 minutes, will only air for 20 minutes tonight.

On Saturdaynight the BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, and its director general, Tim Davie, were both under growing pressure to resign, after leading sports and media figures defended Lineker’s right to criticise what he regards as racist language used by ministers to promote their immigration policy. Davie last night insisted he would not quit.

In a sign that the government feared being seen as the reason for Lineker’s suspension, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, described him as “a great footballer and a talented presenter”. He said he hoped “that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the government”.

BBC staff past and present tore into the corporation’s handling of the wider freedom of speech and neutrality issues at the heart of the row.

Several contrasted the Lineker case with the controversy swirling around Sharp, who is under scrutiny over the role he played in securing an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson, when he was prime minister, at a time when Sharp himself was applying for the post of BBC chair.

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