Why Lineker is barred from hosting BBC MOTD and why did fellow pundits boycott the weekend’s show

The BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming as the network scrambled to stem an escalating crisis over its suspension of football host Gary Lineker for comments criticising the British government’s new asylum policy. The former England captain was suspended from “Match of the Day,” a popular football highlights show, after he criticised the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat in a Twitter post that compared lawmakers’ language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. — Gary Lineker 💙💛 March 7, 2023 “Match of the Day” — the late-night program that has been a British institution for 60 years — was reduced from the usual hour and a half of highlights and analysis to a 20-minute compilation of clips from the day’s games, without commentary or punditry — just cheers and jeers from the stadium crowds for a soundtrack. The latest controversy began with a tweet on Tuesday from Lineker’s account describing 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 he should be fired. In his statement, Sunak doubled down on the government’s plan to deter people from making dangerous journeys across the English Channel in small boats, saying it was the only way to “break this cycle of misery once and for all.” On Friday, the BBC said Lineker would “step back” from “Match of the Day” until it had “an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.” Lineker has yet to comment publicly, and on Saturday went to his hometown of Leicester to watch Leicester City play Chelsea in the Premier League.