The BBC is facing a full-on sports mutiny after pulling host for political comments

Gary LinekerPhoto: Alex Pantling (Getty Images)

The BBC has been forced to issue an apology today to viewers, after the decision to pull its highest-paid sports commentator from the air due to political comments on social media led to an unprecedented outcome: Pretty much its entire football coverage team bailing on their Saturday broadcasts, leaving the national broadcaster in free-fall. We’ve honestly never seen anything quite like it in broadcast sports, which tends to be a pretty straightforward “Put the games on television, let the commentators talk, collect the ratings” business: An entire day of TV coverage collapsing over an impromptu walk-out by talent.

At the heart of the issue is long-time Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker, who’s well known for a) being one of the longest-serving hosts of one of the world’s longest-running regular sports shows, and, b), being unapologetically loud with “controversial” left-leaning commentary—like accusing the British government of being “immeasurably cruel” toward foreign asylum seekers, or suggesting that the country’s treatment of refugees frequently descends into outright racism. Lineker has never been shy about stating these basic positions of empathy, despite frequent accusations that they betray the BBC’s requirement for “impartiality.” That includes on social media, where Lineker recently compared the U.K.’s asylum policies to language used by Germany in the 1930s—and got yanked off the air by the network “until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.”

This kicked off the shitstorm; as noted by Deadline, Lineker’s suspension led to walkouts from presenters across the network’s entire Premier League coverage, including both TV and radio. (Whose shows will be replaced by re-runs of other programs and podcast recordings, respectively.) The BBC has also confirmed that Match Of The Day itself, which draws in millions of viewers every week, will go out today without either a presenter or commentator, or interviews with players or managers, and will run for just 20 minutes of un-commented-on football.

The BBC issued an apology to viewers today, stating that, “The BBC will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that. We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans. We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.” Meanwhile, an online petition to have Lineker reinstated is currently sitting at 178,000 signatures and counting.