Mutiny at the BBC: Lineker row heats up in Britain
The Hindu
The row has sparked a debate over freedom of speech and the BBC's neutrality and risks pulling the government into a dispute with one of the country's highest profile and most popular sports presenters.
Britain's BBC was forced to axe much of its football coverage on Saturday as presenters refused to work in a show of solidarity with Gary Lineker, as a row over freedom of speech escalates, throwing the national broadcaster's programming into disarray.
Former England soccer captain Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid presenter and the anchor of the football highlights programme "Match of the Day", was taken off air by the broadcaster on Friday after he criticised Britain's migration policy earlier in the week.
The row has sparked a debate over freedom of speech and the BBC's neutrality and risks pulling the government into a dispute with one of the country's highest profile and most popular sports presenters.
The BBC said Saturday's edition of "Match of the Day" would "focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."
Two other BBC programmes, "Football Focus" and "Final Score", will not air on Saturday after presenters including Alex Scott, Jason Mohammad and others said they would not work, while BBC sports radio was hit by walkouts from Mark Chapman and others.
The BBC did not immediately respond when contacted for comment. Recorded content replaced usual programming on affected radio stations and television channels.
Lineker, 62, had earlier in the week taken to Twitter to describe new government legislation on migrants as a "cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."