According to BBC News, the short Match Of The Day episode on Saturday night drew over 2 million people.
This comes after football commentator Gary Lineker compared the government’s new migration strategy, which aims to prevent boats from entering the UK, to Germany in the 1930s.
The 62-year-old has become a national hero after refusing to apologise for his remarks, which enraged members of the Conservative administration.
Celebrities like as Dan Walker and Piers Morgan have backed the former player’s right to free expression while condemning the BBC’s response.
According to BARB overnight numbers, the football highlights show received roughly 500,000 more viewers than last Saturday’s edition, which had 2.1 million viewers.
The show, however, was dramatically different in that it ran for only 20 minutes and did not feature accompanying commentary or analysis from analysts, or even its renowned theme song – instead, it broadcasted only brief highlight clips of the day’s events.
After hosting the programme since 1999, Gary has been ordered to’step down’ from presenting responsibilities for the time being due to tweets he sent earlier this week.
On Friday, March 10, the BBC issued a statement saying that Gary would stand aside while they conducted an investigation.
The statement in full read: ‘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.
‘The BBC has 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.‘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.’
Gary’s fellow commentators and pundits rushed to support the star with Ian Wright, the former Arsenal legend and MOTD staple, 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, a former Newcastle player, joined him, saying, ‘I have notified the BBC that I will not be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.’
Source My Celebrity Life.
