BBC Backtracks on Lineker Over Tweet Slamming UK Asylum Plan

Football presenter Gary Lineker walks outside his home in London, Britain, March 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Football presenter Gary Lineker walks outside his home in London, Britain, March 13, 2023. (Reuters)
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BBC Backtracks on Lineker Over Tweet Slamming UK Asylum Plan

Football presenter Gary Lineker walks outside his home in London, Britain, March 13, 2023. (Reuters)
Football presenter Gary Lineker walks outside his home in London, Britain, March 13, 2023. (Reuters)

The BBC secured a draw on Monday in its showdown with Gary Lineker, reversing the former football great's suspension from the airwaves for a tweet that criticized the UK government’s new migration policy.

The about-face followed a weekend of chaos and crisis for Britain's publicly funded national broadcaster, which faced a huge backlash after sidelining one of its best-known hosts for expressing a political opinion.

“Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend,” BBC Director-General Tim Davie said.

Lineker said he was “glad that we have found a way forward.”

Lineker, one of English soccer’s most lauded players and the corporation’s highest-paid television presenter, was suspended Friday after he described the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”

The Conservative government called Lineker’s Nazi comparison offensive and unacceptable, and some lawmakers said the BBC should terminate his contract. The broadcaster said Friday that Lineker would be “stepping back” until he agreed to keep his tweets within BBC impartiality rules.

But critics accused it of suppressing free speech, and the BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming after commentators, analysts and Premier League players refused to appear as a show of support for Lineker.

The flagship football show “Match of the Day” was reduced from the usual 90 minutes of highlights and analysis to a 20-minute compilation of clips from the day’s games, without commentary or punditry. Other TV and radio football shows were pulled from the schedule on Saturday and Sunday as the boycott spread.

Davie insisted Monday that the BBC “did the right thing” by suspending Lineker, but there would now be an independent review of the BBC’s social media rules to address “gray areas” in the guidelines.

“Between now and when the review reports, Gary will abide by the editorial guidelines," he said.

The furor reflects the distinctive nature of UK media, where newspapers are highly opinionated and news broadcasters are required to be balanced — especially the publicly funded BBC, which has a duty to be impartial.

The crisis was a dramatic illustration of the pressures long faced by the 100-year-old BBC in an increasingly polarized political and media world. Those on the right often sense a leftist slant in the broadcaster’s news output, while some liberals accuse it of having a conservative bias.

Opposition politicians accuse the government of political meddling by pushing for Conservative-friendly bosses for the BBC. Davie is a former Conservative local-government candidate. BBC chairman Richard Sharp is a Conservative Party donor who helped arrange a loan for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before Sharp was appointed to the BBC post on the government’s recommendation.

The Conservatives also periodically suggest changing the BBC's funding model. It gets much of its money from a license fee paid by all households with a television.

The opposition Labour Party's culture and media spokeswoman, Lucy Powell, said the Conservatives “have long wanted to undermine the BBC.”

“As well as a review of the BBC’s social media guidelines, this saga should prompt the government to examine how it protects and promotes a truly independent and impartial BBC,” she said.

As part of its commitment to impartiality, the BBC bars news staff from expressing political opinions.

Lineker, as a freelancer who doesn’t work in news or current affairs, isn’t bound by the same rules, and has sometimes pushed the boundaries of what the BBC considers acceptable. Last year, the BBC found that Lineker breached impartiality rules with a tweet about the Conservatives’ alleged Russian donations.

Davie said the BBC “has a commitment to impartiality in its Charter,” as well as a commitment to freedom of expression.

“That is a difficult balancing act to get right where people are subject to different contracts and on air positions, and with different audience and social media profiles,” he said.

Lineker said it had been “a surreal few days” and thanked colleagues for their support.

“A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away,” he tweeted. “It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you.”



La Liga President Rejects Courtois’ Plea to Delay Real Madrid’s 25-26 Opener for More Rest Time

Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
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La Liga President Rejects Courtois’ Plea to Delay Real Madrid’s 25-26 Opener for More Rest Time

Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)
Thibaut Courtois #1 of Real Madrid C. F. reacts during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 semifinal match between Winner Game 59 and Winner Game 60 at MetLife Stadium on July 09, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Getty Images/AFP)

Spanish league president Javier Tebas rejected Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois' plea to postpone the team's 2025-26 opener to give players time to rest following the expanded Club World Cup.

Real Madrid was eliminated with a 4-0 semifinal loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and will have a 41-day offseason before their La Liga opener against Osasuna on Aug. 19.

Tebas said the decision not to move the opener was made by the Spanish Football Federation and La Liga agreed with it. He said players were to have 21 days off and 21 days of preseason training.

"I believe that they will have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other leagues like the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG are changing the games," he said through a translator during a Friday interview with The Associated Press. "So I don’t believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it’s a matter of one day."

Real Madrid played 68 competitive matches in a season that started Aug. 18: 38 in the league, 14 in the Champions League, six each in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one apiece in the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

PSG will play its 65th game in Sunday's Club World Cup final and Chelsea its 64th. PSG opens its season from Aug. 15-17 at Nantes and Chelsea starts against Crystal Palace on Aug. 17.

"It’s always the same for La Liga," Courtois said Wednesday. "To listen those comments from a president it’s something that I haven’t seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and NFL. It’s fine if Tebas doesn’t like the Club World Cup, but it exists. It’s part of the FIFA calendar. We’re here competing, and it seems this gentleman just wants to be the focus. I’ve never seen a president of another competition speak like that. The players' health is on the line."

On other topics:

Real Madrid causing problems Tebas said Real Madrid seeking its own path rather than working collectively with La Liga is his biggest problem.

"They don’t actually understand that we’re a huge league and that if we will collaborate it’s going to be positive for all of us," he said. "The believe in the Super League and in order to get a strong Super League they need a weak national league. So they are working toward that objective."

Camp Nou renovation Barcelona hopes to move back to Camp Nou after two seasons at the Olympic Stadium. Camp Nou's renovations are ongoing.

"They are waiting for a license that is provided by the city hall," Tebas said. "We believe that probably by the fourth week of the competition he should be ready to play again."

That would put the Blaugrana on track for a mid-September return to a venue that will remain under construction.

Barcelona is on track to meeting financial guidelines that would allow them to make moves in the transfer market.

"Barcelona’s financial situation is good," Tebas said. "They are close to acquiring all the players they want in the coming months."