Alan Shearer joins Ian Wright in BBC boycott as Gary Lineker was banned from presenting Match of the Day
Alan Shearer has announced he will not appear in Saturday’s Match of the Day after the BBC announced Gary Lineker was “retiring”.
Shearer is the second major pundit on the show to announce such a decision as a show of solidarity following Ian Wright’s support for Lineker.
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The BBC has said Lineker is “resigning” from presenting Match of the Day.
@alanshearer Twitter
The Newcastle legend has revealed he will not be appearing on the show
Lineker was pulled from his presenting duties for the BBC’s hit football program after an impartiality dispute.
He had criticized the UK government’s new asylum policy, comparing the language they used for the bill to “the language of Germany in the 1930s”.
Wright was quick to show his support for Lineker, tweeting: “Everyone knows what Match of the Day means to me but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”
His co-expert eventually followed when he took to the social media platform say: “I have informed the BBC that I will not be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.”
Lineker, Wright and Shearer form a legendary trio on the show, which presents Premier League highlights every weekend.
However, none of them will appear in this weekend’s edition of the program.
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Like Lineker, Shearer appears frequently on BBC football coverage
BBC
The Match of the Day studio is looking very different this weekend
It remains to be seen who will replace Lineker as presenter, but Alex Scott appears to have dropped herself from the running.
She tweeted: “FYI…” before adding a GIF that says “Nah! Not me.”
Other possible candidates for the role could be Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan, both longtime presenters for the BBC.
There are also question marks over which pundits could emerge, with former Manchester City right-back Micah Richards stating he will not be in the studio.
@AlexScott Twitter
Scott has indicated that she will not present a Match of the Day this weekend
richards tweeted: “I shouldn’t be working on MOTD tomorrow, but if I did, I would make the same decision as Ian Wright and Alan Shearer.”
A BBC spokesman on Lineker said: “The BBC have had extensive discussions with Gary and his team over the last few days.
“We have said we view his recent social media activity as a violation of our policies.
“The BBC has decided that he will step down from presenting Match of the Day until we have an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.
“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.
“We never said that Gary should be in a no-opinion zone or that he can’t have an opinion on issues that are important to him, but we did say that he should steer clear of taking sides on partisan issues or political controversies. “
talkSPORT’s Darren Bent believes Lineker has fallen victim to “abandon culture” as he criticized the BBC’s decision.
https://talksport.com/football/1358379/alan-shearer-gary-lineker-ian-wright-motd/ Alan Shearer joins Ian Wright in BBC boycott as Gary Lineker was banned from presenting Match of the Day