Gary Lineker has returned to work with the BBC for the first time since he was axed from Match of the Day for his comments about the government's asylum policy on social media.
The 62-year-old was back on the BBC screens for Manchester City's clash against Burnley in the FA Cup quarter-finals alongside Micah Richards and Alan Shearer. At the start of the show, after Lineker said it was "great to be here", Shearer said: "I just need to clear up and wanted to say how upset we were for the audience that missed out last weekend.
"It was a really difficult situation for everyone concerned and through no fault of their own some really great people in TV and radio were put in an impossible situation and that wasn’t fair so it’s good to get back to some sort of normality and be talking about football again."
Lineker added: "Absolutely, I echo those sentiments." It comes a week after he was removed from BBC's coverage of MOTD last Saturday after he refused to apologise for a tweet, in which he compared language around the Government's small boats programme to that used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Following Lineker's removal, the likes of Shearer, Ian Wright and Alex Scott dropped out from their assigned punditry roles, while commentators also pulled the plug to stand in solidarity with the ex-striker.
The Mirror launched a petition urging for Lineker to be swiftly reinstated, with 214,000 people signing it.
Then on Monday, after a chaotic weekend, the BBC and Lineker came to an agreement which would see the former England international return to work with the corporation for City's game against Burnley.
The coverage got underway at 5:25pm on BBC 1 with the game starting at 5:45pm. Lineker, who presented the show, was joined by Richards and Shearer as the two pundits.
With Lineker at the Etihad Stadium, Mark Chapman moved into the role of presenter for Match of the Day, which is set to get underway at 10:30pm. There are five Premier League fixtures on Saturday, with Chelsea's clash with Everton arguably the showcase clash.
Lineker took centre stage at the only FA Cup game of the day, with three other ties taking place on Sunday. Grimsby's trip to take on Brighton is the BBC's other live game, while Sheffield United face Blackburn and Manchester United host Fulham - both on ITV.
Last Monday, the saga was solved between the BBC and Lineker when the corporation decided to apologise to the former Leicester and Tottenham forward. A statement from Lineker followed in which he expressed his delight for being able to close the matter and move on.
He tweeted: "After a surreal few days, I’m delighted that we have navigated a way through this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming.
"I have been presenting sport on the BBC for almost 3 decades and am immeasurably proud to work with the best and fairest broadcaster in the world. I cannot wait to get back in the MOTD chair on Saturday.
"A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you."
