BBC Director General Tim Davie Apologizes Over Gary Lineker Row But Says He Won’t Resign

Naman Ramachandran The BBC has appointed former CEO and editor-in-chief of ITN and executive VP at Walt Disney, John Hardie, to review how its social media guidance applies to freelancers. The review, which was announced by BBC director general Tim Davie earlier this month, will start immediately and will be completed by the summer and any changes to the BBC’s social media guidance will then be published. In early March, Lineker, commenting on the U.K. government’s controversial Illegal Migration Bill, tweeted, describing it as an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.” Lineker, a former star soccer player and presenter on the “Match of the Day” soccer show. was suspended by the BBC and then reinstated, raising questions about presenters’ acceptable use of social media.

The BBC’s appointment of Chair Richard Sharp “should not stand” and the process was “fatally flawed,” according to former Director General John Birt, who threw his weight behind the corporation over the Gary Lineker scandal.

One week after the BBC’s schedule of sport was severely disrupted with a boycott by staff in support of anchorman Gary Lineker, both the host and fellow pundits were all back on screen this weekend. 

Gary Lineker has explained why he didn't present Match of the Day on Saturday night, despite being back on BBC screens following the controversy that saw him temporarily step back from his role.

Gary Lineker will return to our TV screens later following a row which left the BBC's sport coverage in disarray. The former England international had to 'step back' from off his Match of the Day presenting duties after taking to social media to hit out at Government plans to stop small boats making the journey to Britain.

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Gary Lineker’s son has spoken out after facing relentless abuse on Twitter following his father’s public fallout with BBC over small boat tweets. George Lineker shared a screenshot of someone telling him he should be “burned at the stake” for supporting his dad when the Match of the Day (MOTD) presenter was briefly suspended from the BBC. Commenting on the abuse, George wrote: “Social media’s mad isn’t it.

UPDATE: BBC employees will stage their biggest strike in 13 years on Wednesday after eleventh-hour talks with management failed. The walkout will force coverage of the UK government’s Budget off air and heap more embarrassment on Director-General Tim Davie, who has apologized for scheduling chaos over the Gary Lineker saga.

“Ambiguity” around social media guidelines was to blame for the BBC Gary Lineker scandal, according to Ofcom boss Melanie Dawes, who was challenged on the “creeping politicization” of UK TV news during a committee hearing this morning.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has scrambled to avoid further disruption to its schedules after a walkout over Gary Lineker’s suspension canceled Premier League output.

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC failed to fully heed advice in 2020 that could have helped the broadcaster avoid a weekend of carnage over a single tweet from Gary Lineker, its highest-paid presenter.

England footballing legend John Barnes says the conversation around the Home Office's controversial illegal migrant policy is being "side-tracked" by the Gary Lineker and BBC row. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, the former Liverpool player said headlines over the weekend could result in the message that Lineker was trying to get across, and the reason he spoke out in the first place, being 'lost'.

Gary Lineker will be returning to the BBC after it was announced the host would "step back" from hosting the weekly football highlights programme, Match of the Day. BBC Director-General Tim Davie has apologised after Gary, 62, was told to step back from presenting Match Of The Day in a row over impartiality and said he will return to hosting coverage this weekend.

Gary Lineker is set to return to BBC Match of the Day this weekend following a row over impartiality.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Football commentator Gary Lineker is set to return to hosting duties on the BBC this weekend after being pulled off air due to comments about the U.K.’s refugee policy that were deemed to have breached the broadcaster’s impartiality policy. In a statement on Monday morning, the BBC revealed that it will conduct a review of its social media guidance “with a particular focus on how it applies to freelancers outside news and current affairs,” which is the category for star talent such as Lineker. The “Match of the Day” host said in a comment: “I am glad that we have found a way forward. I support this review and look forward to getting back on air.”

The BBC has reached a deal with Match of the Day host Gary Lineker over his social media use following crisis talks.

Self Esteem showed her support for Gary Lineker last night (March 11) by wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “Free Gary” at her Eventim Apollo show in London.The singer-songwriter – real name is Rebecca Lucy Taylor – shared on Twitter an image of herself sporting the tee at the show, writing “Solidarity” and tagging the BBC Sport presenter.She has followed in the footsteps of Fatboy Slim, who on Friday (March 10) displayed Lineker’s face on a video screen behind him. The move was met by huge cheers from fans who were watching the DJ perform in Manchester.It comes amid a row between the BBC and Lineker after the latter on Tuesday (March 7) called the government’s controversial plan to ban people arriving in the UK illegally from ever claiming asylum an “immeasurably cruel”.

The UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has found his meeting with French premier Emmanuel Macron this weekend totally overshadowed in the British media. On Saturday evening, Sunak’s office released a statement from the PM, saying: 

The BBC has recently descended into chaos after Gary Lineker was forced to step back from hosting Match of the Day following a row over impartiality. The footballer-turned-pundit, 62, was accused of breaching the BBC's impartiality rules after he posted a tweet comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum policy with that of 1930s Germany.

Naman Ramachandran BBC director general Tim Davie has apologized over the ongoing fracas around star soccer player turned sports pundit Gary Lineker, but will not resign. Last Tuesday, Lineker, commenting on the U.K. government’s controversial Illegal Migration Bill, tweeted, describing it as an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.” Lineker is a star presenter on the BBC’s “Match of the Day” soccer program. Lineker’s tweet raised government hackles and on Friday, the BBC suspended him, saying: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days.  We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines. The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting ‘Match of the Day’ until we’ve got 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 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.”