The Atlantic turned into an incredibly long and stormy weekend for Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general. He was visiting the public corporation’s facilities in Washington DC when the “Lineker case” broke out, and from there he had time to impose a suspension on the former soccer player and presenter, see how it led to an internal rebellion and a bitter public debate came for his clumsiness, trying at full speed to piece together the disaster he himself caused. “I don’t want to get too bogged down in our conversations. Gary Lineker is an exceptional presenter, the best in the business. That is undeniable. And for me, a good result of this situation will be that I return to the antenna,” assured Davie in an interview with the BBC in the United States, before rushing back to London.
Lineker was spotted outside his residence in the British capital this Sunday morning, walking his dog Filbert. “I can’t say anything,” he told reporters standing guard on the street. According to various British media reports, talks between Davie and the presenter’s representatives have accelerated in recent hours and all indications are that he will be back on camera next weekend to film the popular show ‘Match of the Day’ (The Party of the Day) to present. “Will he return to the Match of The Day? I think so because he loves this show. But he will never go back on his words,” Lineker’s son George told The Sun tabloid.
The ex-soccer player, moderator and media star once again angered the Conservative Party MPs and many opinion leaders from the right-wing press with a tweet against the Rishi Sunak government’s new immigration policy. He compared the language of Home Secretary Suella Braverman to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Braverman had described the increasing arrival of irregular migrants on British shores as an “invasion”.
It rained on wet. Gary Lineker had already confronted the Tory universe on social media about Brexit – he opposed it – or donations from Russian oligarchs to the political formation. This time, Davie thought, a little lesson was in order. The presenter was suspended from his position at the helm of the show “while his use of social media was discussed”. Although his employment status is that of an employee – on a €1.5 million annual contract – in the entertainment sector and is therefore not subject to the rules imposed on the station’s journalists, Davie invented what he called the “Lineker Clause” at the time, which aware of the predicament that the moderator might be in. The clause imposed an obligation on collaborators “not to take sides in partisan matters or political controversies.”
However, booking Lineker wasn’t that easy. The former footballer did not retract his statements. And it unleashed a wave of solidarity that caught the BBC leadership off guard. One by one, the company’s sports presenters and employees announced that they would not go on the air to show their solidarity with their partner. Match of the Day, a perfect formula that for years has combined the recap of each match of the day with analyst commentary, has been reduced to a short 20-minute show featuring the best matches. Football Focus or Final Score, two other popular sports sites in the chain, had to be replaced with ready-made programs from the company’s archives.
The wave of sympathy from many fans who brought posters of support into stadiums – “I’m with Gary. Immigrants are welcome” – put on alert the Conservative government, which had initially allowed its MPs to increase pressure on the BBC to censure Lineker and even hailed the campaign. Prime Minister Sunak distanced himself through a spokesman, praising Lineker as “a great footballer and a talented presenter” and assuring that it was an internal matter which the executive would not get involved in, although “he was confident that it would.” It will be resolved as soon as possible.” Business Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who had demanded a public apology from Lineker for his comments, stopped demanding this Sunday morning under pressure from journalists and also referred the matter to the BBC’s discretion.
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