The BBC has scored one of its historic own goals, which go around the world through social networks. The decision to suspend Gary Lineker as presenter of the Match of the Day program (the summary of the football day on Saturday) has turned against him, with a barrage of criticism and the boycott of sports figures s his programs.
In solidarity with Lineker, the football clubs refused to make any statements to the BBC, the rapper Fatboy Slim did a concert in Manchester with an image of the former player on stage and all the contributors to BBC football programs (including former footballers Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Jermaine Defoe) went on strike. The state radio and television channel was forced to change the programming, had to apologize to the public and broadcast the goals of the day in raw, with no one to comment on them. An unprecedented fact.
It all started because Lineker denounced on Twitter the new immigration policy of the conservative government of Rishi Sunak, which consists of completely closing access to political asylum seekers (except those from Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan), detaining or deporting those who arrive in small boats, and forever ban them legal residence in the UK and British nationality. The UN, the European Union and human rights organizations have said it is against international law. The Tories know this, but it is a way of using the culture war for electoral purposes, and forcing Labor (the opposition) to speak for or against.
Gary Lineker, a former striker for Barcelona, ??Tottenham, Everton and Leicester, likened that policy to the language of “1930s Germany.” And the BBC, under pressure from conservative politicians and newspapers, called the footballer to order and demanded that he retract, which he failed to do. Rather the complete opposite. The shot has backfired on the state chain.
Not only because characters from all walks of life have sided with Lineker and in defense of freedom of expression, but because the cynicism of the BBC has been brought to the fore. While on the one hand it prohibits a football commentator from talking about politics on social networks (alleging that it harms its image of neutrality), on the other its president, Richard Sharp, can guarantee a loan of one million euros to Boris Johnson, and members of its board of directors can be lords and vote in favor of the Government.
The BBC has fallen into the trap set for it by the right-wing and media such as the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, which in reality were not so much against Lineker (which was also) as against her. The conservatives have been trying to kill it for some time to open the way for private networks, such as those belonging to the North American magnate Rupert Murdoch, so that they operate without any type of competition.
Lineker is one of the highest paid presenters on the BBC (almost two million euros a year), but he doesn’t need that money, he wouldn’t lack work and he has many other businesses. Yesterday he went to Leicester to see his old team’s game against Chelsea, and the support banners that appeared in the stands. On the other hand, the BBC has a hard time getting out of the mess he has gotten himself into.
