Gary Lineker faces a dilemma: toe the BBC line or be a social media influencer
The BBC’s decision to take Gary Lineker off air leaves its most outspoken personality with a potentially career-defining decision, as the corporation looks to risk its reputation to make a public example of one of its biggest stars.
Lineker’s politically loaded tweets about the government’s new asylum policy – followed by a pledge to stand by his comments – had left the BBC in an almost impossible position, balancing impartiality with freedom of expression by its staff.
The BBC, which has tried to rebuild a “fragile trust” with the government, reining in perceived partiality on and off screen by implementing an ultra-strict social media policy for news staff, has been put under pressure by Conservative ministers to make an example of Lineker.
However, the Match of the Day presenter has received support from big voices including Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former press secretary, the former Sky News presenter Adam Boulton, ex-Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis and Piers Morgan.
Supporters viewed the decision to remove Lineker from Match of the Day as capitulating to political pressure, which weakens its independence, at a time when its chair, the former Tory donor Richard Sharp, is under investigation over allegations he helped engineer a loan for Boris Johnson.
Strictly speaking, Lineker’s official status as a freelance employee and member of the sport department means he is not governed by the same social media rules that the director general, Tim Davie, introduced to keep the views of news staff in check.
The BBC has struggled with the outspoken Lineker. Last year he was publicly reprimanded for breaking impartiality guidelines after he tweeted about the Conservative party taking money from Russian donors, but no action
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