Alan Shearer has joined Ian Wright in refusing to appear on Saturday’s Match of the Day following the BBC’s decision to remove Gary Lineker from presenting duties. Lineker was taken off the programme after he criticised the UK Government’s new asylum policy and compared its language to that used by Germany in the 1930s. Wright was quick to show his support for Lineker, saying on Twitter: “Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.” Shearer followed suit, tweeting: “I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.”
Lineker, Wright and Shearer are an iconic trio on the show that presents the highlights of the Premier League each weekend. However, none of them will feature on this weekend’s edition of the programme. It remains to be seen who will replace Lineker as presenter, but Alex Scott appears to have ruled herself out of the running.
There are also questions marks as to what pundits could appear, with former Manchester City right-back Micah Richards stating he will not be in the studio. A spokesperson for the BBC regarding Lineker said: “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.”
TalkSPORT’s Darren Bent believes Lineker has been the victim of ‘cancel culture’ as he slammed the BBC’s decision.