Explainer: How Gary Lineker's tweets paralyzed BBC and ignited UK political storm
Gary Lineker, the former soccer star who now works as a television presenter, is in a feud with the BBC following his tweets on the UK's new immigration laws
Gary Lineker, a former England international star soccer player and current host of the much beloved BBC soccer highlights show 'Match of the Day' ignited a national British debate on the country's new immigration policies and the freedom of speech people employed by the the British Broadcasting Corporation are afforded.
What started out as a simple Twitter commentary on the United Kingdom's new asylum seeking policy has turned into a national controversy.
Who is Gary Lineker?
Gary Winston Lineker OBE is a former English soccer star who played for Barcelona, Tottenham, Leicester, and Everton as well as appearing in over 80 matches for the English National Team from 1984 to 1992.
Since the end of this playing career in the 1994, Lineker has become the BBC's premier host for soccer matches and events, including hosting coverage of the FIFA World Cup and English Premier League.
Lineker is the longest tenured host of the BBC's flagship much loved English Premier League highlight show 'Match of the Day,' which he has featured as a presenter since the late 1990's.
The Controversy
Suella Braverman, the United Kingdom's Home Secretary, appeared in a video tweeted by the Home Office's twitter account entitled 'Enough is enough. We must stop the boats' on March 7th, explaining the government's plan to stop asylum seekers from reaching British shores.
In response to that video, Lineker retweeted the video, writing: "Good heavens, this is beyond awful." However, it was another tweet by the Leicester-born television host that caused the larger controversy at hand.
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In a response to a tweet that criticized his comments on Braverman's video, Lineker tweeted the British government's new immigration policy was "immeasurably cruel" and "directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."
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The reference to Germany in the 1930's, which had been under control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party from 1933 is what drew outrage from Conservatives across the country.
Braverman told British television network ITV that Lineker's remark was "irresponsible," while other ministers criticized Lineker for a lack of impartiality, which his employer, the BBC, has strict guidelines on.
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After the initial wave of criticism from Conservative ministers and right-leaning supporters, the BBC issued a statement that they would hold a "frank conversation" about Lineker's social media use and that he would be "reminded of his responsibilities."
Nevertheless, the BBC followed suit by announcing that Lineker would not host the newest upcoming episode of 'Match of the Day,' issuing the following statement:
"When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. 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."
The BBC and Impartiality
The British Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as simply the BBC, is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom. Due to the BBC being a publicly funded operation, the broadcaster says it is "committed" to achieving impartiality in all output, saying impartiality is "fundamental to our reputation, our values and the trust of audiences."
The BBC's guidelines on impartiality, known worldwide as some of the strictest, state that impartiality must be "adequate and appropriate to the output, taking account of the subject and nature of the content, the likely audience expectation and any signposting that may influence that expectation."
So, how does this affect Lineker and his tweets?
Lineker is officially a freelance broadcaster at the BBC, and not a permanent member of the channel's staff.
Lineker does not present news or political content across any of the BBC's channels or platforms, and his tweets on the government's immigration issue were sent from his personal account, which does not refer to the BBC or 'Match of the Day' in the account's biography.
The BBC and Boris
Despite being largely funded by taxpayers, the UK government does not directly control the BBC's day-to-day programming or personnel.
As part of being a public organization without an owner, the BBC is overseen by a chairperson, who at the moment is Richard Sharp. Sharp was announced as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's chairperson in 2021, previously having worked for companies such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
He has come under heavy calls to be investigated and many have expressed that he should resign from his post after an investigation by the Sunday Times revealed that Sharp helped then-prime minister and head of the Conservative Party Boris Johnson acquire a loan of over $850,000 just weeks before becoming chairperson of the BBC.
The loan to the former Prime Minister has called Sharp's impartiality into question amid his decisions on Lineker and his removal from 'Match of the Day.'
Support for Lineker from players, pundits, and the public
Following the BBC's announcement that Lineker would not host the newest episode of 'Match of the Day,' figures from across the sport and political spectrum have come out in support of Lineker and have criticized the decision to have him removed from the program he has hosted for over two decades.
Former Arsenal and England soccer player Ian Wright was among the first to show solidarity with Lineker, tweeting: "Everybody knows what 'Match Of The Day' means to me, but I've told the BBC I won't be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity."
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Wright's tweet was the first in what has become a cascading avalanche of refusals to appear on the BBC affiliated soccer shows. Former players such as Alex Scott, Alan Shearer, Dion Dublin, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe have all refused to appear on 'Match of the Day' and other BBC programing, including 'Final Score' and 'BBC Radio 5 Live.'
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Match commentators, who are the voices who describe the games to audiences live, refused their television assignments and it was rumored that multiple current players refused to conduct interviews with the BBC before and after their matches.
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Following the onslaught of refusal by talent to appear on the channel's airwaves, the BBC announced that a version of 'Match Of The Day' lasting only 20 minutes would run on March 11, without any commentary during the highlights and no presenters across the entirety of the show.
What is next for Lineker and the BBC?
BBC director general Tim Davie has apologized to BBC viewers after the disruption to normal sports programming after the protests by on-air talent over the weekend.
In an interview with BBC News, Davie said "success for me is getting Gary back on air and together we are giving to the audiences that world-class sports coverage which, as I say, I'm sorry we haven't been able to deliver today."
It remains to be seen if the BBC will reverse course and reinstate Lineker to his previous role as their star soccer presenter, but what is clear is that the organizations decision has sparked a nationwide conversation on what is impartial and the role the government has in policing debate.