https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64920557


Gary Lineker has been told to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media use, the BBC has said.
It follows an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the government's new asylum policy.
The BBC said it considered Lineker's "recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines".
It added he should "keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies".

The BBC asked Lineker to step back after "extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days".

It "decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media", the statement said.

It continued: "When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.

"We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can't have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies."

Fellow pundit Ian Wright said he will not appear in "solidarity", tweeting: "Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I've told the BBC I won't be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity."

Alan Shearer, who also presents on the show, said he had "informed the BBC that I won't be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night".

Lineker has not yet publicly commented but while presenting 5News earlier, former BBC presenter Dan Walker read out a text live on air from the 62-year-old.

Ok

Maximum respect to Gary Lineker if he can stand up for what he believes in and take the consequences like Andrew Marr did when he left the BBC due to freedom of speech issues. I do feel sorry for the black ones in solidarity with him though. People like Ian Wright, Micah Richards, Jermaine Jenas and Alex Scott. White boy Lineker will always get another job but they will struggle.

In as much as I respect Gary Lineker's stance on this issue, I would like to see him proffer an alternative solution to what the government is proposing. It is very easy to be an armchair critic and not come up with a workable alternative. Talk is cheap. But seriously, who watches "match of the day" because of lineker or the pundits. I personally watch because of the football highlights of the day. To me it's just like watching bbc or ITV news. I don't watch because of the presenters, I just want the news to keep abreast of what's going on. Half of the time the pundits are talking nonsense and giving their own opinions and interpretation of the matches of the day which most times differ from the way I see it anyway. Lineker does the least on that programme yet he earns a lot more than the others like Ian Wright or Jenas and Shearer. Got too big for his breeches.