BBC director general Tim Davie is doorstepped and quizzed on Gary Lineker’s removal from Match of the Day following ‘Nazi’ tweet… as company chief claims ‘proportionate action’ has been taken
- BBC director general Tim Davie was doorstepped and questioned about Lineker
- Lineker was taken off air by the BBC after a series of strongly-worded tweets
- Davie suggested that the BBC had taken ‘proportionate action’ against him
BBC director general Tim Davie has been doorstepped and quizzed about the punishment dealt to axed presenter Gary Lineker.
It was confirmed on Friday that Lineker will not present Match of the Day this weekend, after the BBC decided his recent tweet comparing the Government’s migration plans to Nazi Germany breached impartiality rules.
After a string of Lineker’s co-pundits announced they would stand in solidarity with the former England striker, the BBC confirmed that Match of the Day would run without a presenter or pundits.
And, following the decision, director general Tim Davie was questioned about the BBC’s decision to remove Lineker.
A video of Davie being doorstepped and quizzed – by a BBC journalist – has done the rounds on social media. In it, he suggested ‘proportionate action’ had been taken.
BBC director general Tim Davie (pictured) was doorstepped and quizzed on the decision to take Gary Lineker off air
Gary Lineker will step back from presenting Match of the Day pending further discussions with his bosses, the BBC announced today
‘I think we always look to take proportionate action and that’s what we’ve done,’ Davie explained.
‘I don’t want to add to the statement. I think we’ve had very constructive discussions, the statement is very clear. That’s where we are.’
The 55-year-old was then asked about the refusal from co-pundits, such as Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, to appear on the show.
‘No, I absolutely respect people’s right to make that decision. BBC Sport had to look at the programme they’re going to produce at the weekend, as normal.
‘I’m not going to say more than I’ve said on this. It’s all in the statement.’
Upon the news of a Match of the Day without Lineker at the helm, a BBC spokesmen 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.’
Ian Wright was one of the BBC co-pundits who publicly announced he would not be appearing on Match of the Day in support of Gary Lineker
The BBC’s highest paid star sparked a huge political row this week after comparing the language used to launch a new government crackdown on migrants arriving across the Channel in small boats to 1930s Germany.
The Match of the Day host, 62, shared online a video of Suella Braverman announcing details of her new Illegal Migration Bill with the comment, ‘Good heavens, this is beyond awful’.
When another user accused him of being ‘out of order’, the former England footballer, who has previously been rebuked for other anti-Tory comments, responded: ‘There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
‘This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?’
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