Ian Wright and Alan Shearer snub Match of the Day after Gary Lineker dropped – live

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Time to close this blog – thanks for reading. I’ll leave you with Jim Waterson’s full report on Friday’s developments.

More reaction and analysis to the BBC’s bombshell decision:

Here’s Barney Ronay on Friday evening’s developments:

The fact is everybody loses, everything is diminished, when it is in the gift of the government of the day to decide who gets to say what on issues of basic human kindness. What we have here is the de facto state censorship of a man who says things like “and now to Goodison” in between footage of people playing football, for the crime of having freelance opinions on social media.

Jermaine Jenas adds his voice to boycott

The field of BBC sport presenters who might step into Lineker’s seat is growing ever thinner. Jermaine Jenas has said that, like Micah Richards, he was not on duty for Saturday’s programme, but that if he was, he would not have taken part in light of the host’s suspension.

Steve Wilson, a prominent BBC commentator who regularly features on Match of the Day, has not held back with his view on the decision. It begs the question: could the growing boycott spread from pundits and presenters to commentators?

Broadcast union: ‘this is a deeply concerning decision’

Thanks, Tom. More reaction now from Philippa Childs, the head of Bectu, the broadcast union which represents thousands of BBC staff:

“This is a deeply concerning decision from the BBC. It will give the appearance that they have bowed to political pressure from ministers to take someone off air for disagreeing with the policies of the current government.

“Taken with the ongoing controversy over the appointment of the BBC Chairman, who has a much more important role in upholding the reputation of the BBC, and who has not stepped back while under investigation, it also risks given the impression of double standards on these issues.”

OK, I’m off for a comfort break and will hand you over to Niall McVeigh to see this through. For this evening anyway. This story isn’t going away …

Micah Richards backs the MOTD refuseniks

The regular pundit and former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender has also pledged his support for Wright, Shearer, Scott and Co:

Some unlikely alliances are emerging: Wright gets backing from an unexpected source …

Mark Chapman reportedly also not appearing on MOTD

Another one bites the dust, according to the Mail’s chief sports reporter:

Broadcasting union Bectu has also criticised the BBC’s decision, PA Media reports:

Philippa Childs, head of entertainment trade union Bectu, said: “This is a deeply concerning decision from the BBC.

“It will give the appearance that they have bowed to political pressure from ministers to take someone off air for disagreeing with the policies of the current government.

“Taken with the ongoing controversy over the appointment of the BBC chairman, who has a much more important role in upholding the reputation of the BBC, and who has not stepped back while under investigation, it also risks giving the impression of double standards on these issues.”

William Hague thinks otherwise, the former Tory leader telling Times Radio: “He broke the guidelines I think of the BBC with comments that are highly politicised, which BBC presenters are not meant to do. So that’s against the rules and we’ve got to do something about that, otherwise every presenter can do so on every programme. I think it is appropriate for him to step back.”

Updated at 14.17 EST

It’s notable how critical Sky Sports News is being of the BBC’s decision. In some respects, it’s to be expected that a rival broadcaster might want to ram home another’s discomfort but SSN’s Kaveh Solhekol has been pretty uncompromising in pointing out apparent double-standards, pointing out that other BBC presenters past and present – such as Andrew Neil – have displayed their political views while working for the corporation, and that the current BBC management has been riddled with people with Conservative connections (Tim Davie, Richard Sharp, Robbie Gibb).

Let’s not rule out the reverse-ferret:

Alex Scott will also not appear on MOTD tomorrow

Another BBC football presenter, Alex Scott, has also made her feelings pretty clear:

Updated at 14.02 EST

Time to reup today’s Football Daily newsletter:

It’s worth noting that sports presenters are not and never have been subject to the same BBC impartiality guidelines as the corporation’s proper Big Boy journalists. : heavyweights such as the Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce. She has been criticised by a Labour MP after last night appearing to trivialise the appalling behaviour of Boris Johnson’s father, the alleged wife-beater Stanley, on the grounds that he had only put his ex-wife in hospital with a broken nose once.

And if you’re not yet a subscriber, you can become one here.

And now, some comment on the actual issue at hand:

So much of the contemporary Match of the Day format relies on punditry – its contract with the Premier League limits the amount of highlights it can show of each game, which means plenty of time for chat – that one wonders who exactly will be filling that airtime tomorrow, and how.

Updated at 13.43 EST

Shearer will also snub MOTD tomorrow

Is it becoming an exodus?

The BBC is already facing a staff strike next week – looks like they’ve got a quasi-wildcat walkout on their hands before that

Updated at 13.39 EST

More politico reaction, from opposing ends of the spectrum: Nadine Dorries has said she welcomes the decision for Gary Lineker to step back from Match Of The Day, saying it shows the BBC is “serious about impartiality”.

“News that @GaryLineker has been stood down for investigation is welcome and shows @BBC are serious about impartiality,” she tweeted.

“Gary is entitled to his views – free speech is paramount. Lots of non Public Service Broadcasters can accommodate him and his views and he would be better paid.”

While former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praised Gary Lineker and his fellow Gooner Ian Wright on Twitter.

The Islington North MP wrote: “Well done @GaryLineker for standing up for refugees. Well done @IanWright0 for showing the meaning of solidarity. Now, let’s mobilise against a politics of cruelty, and defeat this inhumane, illegal & immoral legislation.”

All of this isn’t, of course, the first time Gary Lineker’s opinions have attracted attention, as Ben Quinn documents:

And some feedback:

The BBC’s decision-making process and communications are going to be subject to considerable scrutiny, not to say mockery too …

Nicola Sturgeon has spoken out against the decision too:

More on Lineker’s freelance status, as discussed by former BBC executive Richard Sambrook:

Former BBC executive Richard Sambrook told the PA news agency there is “a lot of confusion” around whether freelance broadcasters such as Gary Lineker who do not work in news should be subject to the same rules as permanent staff.

Mr Sambrook, who was director of news at the BBC and director of BBC Global News and the BBC World Service, was asked about the Match Of The Day presenter comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum policy with 1930s Germany and him subsequently “stepping back” from the BBC show.

He replied: “I think the language he used was unnecessarily provocative but the wider question here is whether a sports presenter in his private life has to be bound by BBC policies.

“Traditionally, the BBC would always want that to be the case but I think in the current day and age when we live in a world full of social media, when journalism broadcasters have the ability to go and work for other people or do their own podcasts and all the rest of it, that’s a bit of an unrealistic expectation.

“So I think unless the BBC recalibrates its relationship with freelancers, then this is just going to happen again and again.”

Mr Sambrook also said: “I think there’s quite a lot of confusion about the extent to which the impartiality guidelines extend outside of news and extend to freelancers rather than staff, and until that’s cleared up we’re going to go on having these kinds of (problems).”

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has said he will “stand back” from watching Match of the Day, in solidarity with Gary Lineker: “I will be stepping back from watching the programme until the @BBC grows a backbone. Still, I’m sure we can count on the Free Speech Union to stand up against this hysterical act of cancellation…”

Another point of contention is that Lineker is a freelance broadcaster for the BBC, not a permanent member of staff – he fronts football coverage on other channels. As such, and as a person working in sport, he is not responsible for news or political content so it is argued he does not have to adhere to the same rules on impartiality.

Labour criticises ‘cowardly decision’ to stand Lineker down

The Labour party has condemned the BBC’s decision, PA Media reports. A party source said: “The BBC’s cowardly decision to take Gary Lineker off air is an assault on free speech in the face of political pressure.

“Tory politicians lobbying to get people sacked for disagreeing with Government policies should be laughed at, not pandered to. The BBC should rethink their decision.”

But the Conservative MP and former culture secretary John Whittingdale has said the decision was “inevitable”. “The problem is that Gary Lineker has made it clear that he wants to go on tweeting his views. And he’s of course entitled to hold his views, but the problem is that he is also a very highly – indeed the highest paid – person working for the BBC and is closely associated with the BBC.

“And I’m afraid those two things are not compatible.”

Ian Wright’s decision not to appear on tomorrow’s Match of the Day either is going to put tomorrow’s episode under the microscope. Who will present? Will others follow Wright’s lead?

The former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis has suggested as much, saying her former employer could face a “much, much bigger battle” after its Gary Lineker decision.

“I’m not sure when they suggested to Gary Lineker he step back from (Match Of The Day) the BBC realised it might be starting a much much bigger battle,” she tweeted. “Ian Wright refusing to present on Saturday. In the name of solidarity.”

A few more nuggets of reaction – in a week of reactionary nuggets – as reported by PA Media:

… support has come from media figures including Piers Morgan and Sky News commentator Adam Boulton.

After the announcement, ex-Blue Peter presenter Simon Thomas said: “I wonder what the end result would have been had @GaryLineker Tweeted his whole hearted support for the Government’s immigration policy & had used the same inflammatory words like ‘invasion’ that were deployed by @SuellaBraverman?

“This (100 emoji) would not have been the end result.”

Jon Sopel drew a comparison with the corporation’s chairman Richard Sharp, who has been involved in a cronyism row over him helping Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan facility.

The former BBC correspondent tweeted: “Lucky there are no producer guidelines on whether you need to declare facilitating an £800k loan to a prime minister while applying for a job as chairman of a broadcasting organisation…”

It would appear that Lineker has been told to step back by the BBC, rather than having agreed to do so:

And here’s our initial report of Lineker’s non-appearance on MOTD. More as we get it:

Ian Wright says he will snub Match of the Day

This one’s only going to escalate. Ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright has voiced his support for Lineker.

He says he has told the BBC he will not be appearing on Match of the Day tomorrow.

Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling has replied to the message of “solidarity”, tweeting: “Well played Wrighty.”

Updated at 12.54 EST

Welcome back to our continued coverage. We’ll have news updates and further reaction to the news that Gary Lineker will not present Match of the Day on Saturday.

LA Liga: Barcelona charged with corruption!

Breaking! We leave you with the news that the La Liga leaders have been formally charged with corruption for making payments to former Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee.

Irt was revealed last month that Barcelona paid Negreira and a company he owns a reported total of £7.4m between 2001 and 2018, with the club claiming the payments were paid to Negrira for his role as “an external technical consultant”.

Today Barcelona, two if its former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell and Negreira had been indicted for “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”.

Hell in a Handcart Dept: Earlier this afternoon, the Guardian exclusively revealed that the BBC has decided not to broadcast an episode of David Attenborough’s flagship new series on British wildlife because of fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the rightwing press, the Guardian has been told.

Now it has emerged that Gary Lineker will be stepping back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement has been reached with his completely politically impartial overlords on his use of social media. Honestly …

Bournemouth: Midfielder Jefferson Lerma has been rated no better than “touch and go” for his side’s match against Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium tomorrow and Gary O’Neil has been explaining how injuries are hampering his side’s efforts to stay in the Premier League. Bournemouth sit bottom of the table and are hoping to bounce back from last week’s heartbreaking defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

“We haven’t had as many options as we would have liked tactically because of the injury situation,” said O’Neil. “But also the calibre of team we’re playing at the moment dictates tactically a little as well. Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool as a three-game run is not the easiest you can have so there are a few things tactically.

“Getting players back fit is huge. I’ve said it a lot this season so we need to get them back as quickly as we can. We’ve got Liverpool and Aston Villa and then an international break which will hopefully help us as well and hopefully we will come out of that in a much stronger place numbers-wise.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers: It is a year to the day since a Wolves striker scored a Premier League goal, the last one coming when Raul Jimenez found the net after 13 minutes of a 4-0 win over Watford. Julen Lopetegui isn’t unduly concerned.

“I am worried about the team, not only about the forwards because the want to score is about all the team,” said the Spaniard to the media. “I’ve spoken about this a lot of time. I think we are happy with the forwards and they are working really hard. Sometimes they offer a different solution to the team. Of course, it is a good thing for the forwards to score and I am sure they are going to score. I don’t know when, as soon as possible would be good for them, and good for us.”

They’ll get their next opportunity on Sunday afternoon when they face Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Chelsea: “In the two games we’ve had different back threes,” says Graham Potter of Chelsea’s back-to-back wins against Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund. “Benoit [Badiashile] played against Leeds and Marc [Cucurella] came in against Dortmund. We’ve played that at times this season. Thiago getting injured against Tottenham meant that we had to adjust things, so at the moment it’s suiting us quite well and it’s working.

“Defensively, and as much as everyone is focusing on the other end as we haven’t scored as many goals, but defensively, we’re up there as one of the best teams in the Premier League. So, that is something to be positive about but clearly we need to get the other bit right as well because You need to be balanced and do both sides of the game well. The attacking bit is more difficult than the defending side of things as well but consistency always helps.”

Crystal Palace: With speculation surrounding his future percolating away in the background, Patrick Vieira has spoken to the press ahead of Crystal Palace’s match against Manchester City at Selhurst Park tomorrow. Vieira’s team has yet to win a game this year and are being sucked inexorably down the table.

““If I’m sitting in front of you and telling you that I’m not concerned it would be a lie,” said the Frenchman. “Of course we are concerned and of course we are aware of our position on the table. It’s important for us to remain calm to keep working and keep improving.

“We have a tough week ahead of us. It will be important to do our best and to try to get points. If we want points we have to play well. We have to keep doing the right things and at the same time it’s important for us to understand what part of the game we need to improve to allow ourselves to win those games.”

It has not escaped Patrick Vieira’s attention that Crystal Palace are sliding down the Premier League table. Photograph: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images

Aston Villa travel to West Ham on Sunday and Unai Emery is pleased with his team’s progress under his stewardship since he took over just before the World Cup. “I think we are in the process,” he said. “Sometimes we are winning more than losing, but of course I am very demanding and I am demanding the players to improve and try to be competitive. Overall, I think we are in the right way and Sunday is again a new challenge. After that match I don’t know exactly how I can feel but hopefully we can follow the same way we are doing and being like a competitive team.”

Pep Guardiola on Kyle Walker: “It’s a private issue”

Today marked the first occasion journalists had to ask Pep Guardiola about the latest non-sporting headlines generated by Kyle Walker, who is facing an investigation by Chesshire police after CCTV footage appeared to show the Manchester City defender “exposing himself in a Manchester bar” while out socialising last Sunday.

“It is a private issue,” said Guardiola. “We will solve it internally, speaking with him. Of course this [a press conference] is not the place to talk about private situations.”

Southampton: Joint bottom of the table, level on points with Bournemouth who are beneath them on goal difference, Southam pton face a tricky assignment away at Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

““I think they will try and keep the momentum [after beating Real Betis last night],” said Saints manager Ruben Selles. “I think they had a difficult moment at Anfield. I think it’s difficult to manage those type of moments and I think Erik Ten Hag did a really good job there. I expect them to make some rotation in the line-up because it’s not easy to play every three days. But we can see he made the right decision to stick with his players.”

And on his own side: “We are just preparing every game like we want to win the match, so it’s not going to be any different than the last games,” he said. “It’s not something we consider is important. We are going to prepare for the game like we do every single week.” It really is incendiary chat.

Conte on Richarlison’s midweek outburst

Following Tottenham’s inauspicious exit from the Champions League on Tuesday, Richarlison spoke to the Brazilian TV station TNT Sports and appeared to aim both barrels at Antonio Conte for not giving him more playing time this season.

A £60m summer signing from Everton, Richarlison has started just seven Premier League matches during his first injury-interrupted season at the club and was brought on as a 70th minute substitute against Milan.

“I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench,” said Richarlison. “I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no-one told me why. Yesterday, they asked me to take a fitness test in the gym and told me I was going to start today if I passed it.

“And today I was on the bench. There are things I can’t understand. There was no explanation again, let’s see what he [Conte] will tell us tomorrow – but I’m not silly, I’m a professional who works hard every day and I want to play.”

While there seems little doubt Richarlison was having a possibly ill-advised pop at his manager, Antonio Conte claims not to have interpreted the comments that way.

“First of all I watched the interview of Richarlison and he didn’t criticise me. He said my season is a ‘shit’ and he is right because his season is no good because he had a lot of injury,” he said. “He started well with us, he then had injury and went to World Cup and had another injury, serious, he come back and stayed one month out.

“He score zero goals with us [in the Premier League], only two goals in the Champions League and the guy was really honest to say his season was not good.”

Yes, Antonio, but what about his lack of game time. “Then you ask me for the rest of the interview? I think the guy understood he made mistake because when you speak with ‘I’, ‘I’ and ‘I’, not ‘us’. It means you are thinking only about yourself and you are selfish.

“I repeat to my players, if we want to build something important, fight for something important, fight to be competitive and win a trophy, we have to speak with ‘we’. If we speak I, I and I, we are only thinking about himself. The guy understood very well and apologised, which is good because I had an opportunity to clarify for another time the spirit of the team.”

Antonio Conte has addressed the comments made by his clearly dissatisfied striker Richarlison. Photograph: Tottenham Hotspur FC/Getty ImagesConte on his Tottenham contract …

“You know with the club we signed a contract, a strange contract one-year-and-a-half,” he said. “Usually you sign for three years but I think it was for the club and for myself to see the situation, for the club to understand my personality, my capacity as a coach and for me – from my side it was the same. To understand if we were on the same page.

“Now after one year and a half, the club knows me, I know the club and it is clear this situation. We have to finish the season and then we will see. The club knows very well my thoughts. I am ready to die for this club until the end of the season.”

Antonio Conte has spoken …

And the Tottenham Hotspur head coach has had plenty to say. Conte has insisted he would “die for this club”, which seems a bit extreme considering all that’s left for them to fight for this season is a place in next year’s Champions League. He also said that the contract he signed at the beginning of his tenure was strange.

Speculation over his future continues, with the Italian’s current terms expiring in the summer and Spurs’ poor form – they have exited the FA Cup and Champions League already this month – has contributed towards many feeling a parting of ways might be best for both parties.

“The club knows very well which is my situation, which is my thoughts,” he said. “If I have to become the person to take as a target? No. I am not this person. We need time and patience. I understood that here the patience is finished for the fans, for the environment and then we will see what happens in the future.

“I am not so stupid to kill myself. If you ask me now am I am ready now to die for this club? Yes. Until the end I am ready to die for this club. But I am not so stupid to kill myself.”

So that’s cleared that up, eh? Clear as mud …

Right, that’s my stint over. Time to get some woolly socks on and have a nice cuppa. I’ll hand you back to Barry Glendenning, in all his blogging splendour.

James among Chelsea players to miss Leicester game

Graham Potter has also been speaking to the press, as Chelsea gear up for a trip to Leicester. Asked to give an update on injuries and availability, he said: “Reece [James] has been ill so hasn’t trained today. He won’t make the game tomorrow. Raheem [Sterling] had a little feeling in his hamstring, so looking doubtful tomorrow.

“[Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang has a slight problem with his back so it’s looking like he’ll miss the game. Still no N’Golo Kanté. We’re looking to build him up.”

Reece James will not feature against Leicester. Photograph: Andrew Kearns/CameraSport/Getty Images

Back to the blue side of Manchester again – help, this is giving me motion sickness – where Guardiola has been asked for his verdict on Patrick Vieira’s work at Crystal Palace, this weekend’s opponents. “I’ve not been with him in the locker room but his experience as a football player, he was in France [as a manager] and had big experience, and with Palace he’s done a really good job,” he said. “In the Premier League every game is hard. At home against Crystal Palace we struggle a lot to get results.”

Updated at 09.28 EST

Returning to the red side of Manchester, briefly, Jamie Jackson has the latest on the ongoing negotiations over the sale of United.

Guardiola says Foden ‘OK’ despite foot injury

It’s over to the blue side of Manchester, now, where Pep Guardiola is holding court. There were worries over Phil Foden’s fitness after Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Newcastle last Saturday, with the 22-year-old saying that he’d exacerbated an underlying foot injury. Guardiola isn’t worried, however. “Yeah, apparently he is OK,” he said.

Phil Foden takes a breather during the Newcastle game. Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Ten Hag also reserved praise for Wout Weghorst, who scored United’s fourth goal against Betis on Thursday evening. “I think, as you see, he is often in the right position, then he fails,” he said. “But he keeps going. So, he showed great personality and character, not only in this game. I think also in this game, he could have already [got] his goal early on, but he keeps focused, he keeps working and he keeps putting himself in the right positions. And, finally, he got his goal and his reward.”

Will Unwin was less impressed…