Footballers are reportedly planning to refuse interviews to the BBC over the row that saw Gary Lineker dropped from Match of the Day because of a tweet on Government immigration policy. And commentators have also "decided to step down" from Saturday's programme, in a show of support for the host.
The footballers' union, the PFA, was reported to be prepared to back any members who take the stand in support of Lineker, and regular Match of the Day pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer. BBC News sports editor Dan Roan said that players from "several clubs" had contacted the PFA for advice.
Henry Winter, the chief football writer for The Times, also predicted boycotts of BBC post-match interviews. The BBC announced yesterday that Match of the Day tonight (Saturday, March 11) would not feature any pundits, and would focus just on match action.
Late last night (Friday, March 10), the commentators due to cover the matches on the BBC's flagship sports show announced they would also be withdrawing. Match Of The Day commentator Steve Wilson wrote on Twitter: "As commentators on MOTD, we have decided to step down from tomorrow night’s broadcast.
"We are comforted that football fans who want to watch their teams should still be able to do so, as management can use World Feed commentary if they wish. However, in the circumstances, we do not feel it would be appropriate to take part in the programme.” The statement was shared by his fellow Match Of The Day commentators Conor McNamara, Robyn Rowen and Steven Wyeth.
The PA news agency said it understood the PFA will fully support any players who do not want to fulfil media duties with the BBC after Premier League matches in solidarity with Lineker and the other pundits. It added that a number of players had contacted the PFA seeking advice, and the union has subsequently spoken to all Premier League clubs to establish a collective position.
Emily Maitlis said the fallout from the suspension of Lineker was getting “unmanageably big for the BBC now”. The former Newsnight host retweeted the commentators' statement.
Former BBC correspondent Jon Sopel said the punditry segment of Match Of The Day being cancelled is “incredible”. He said on Twitter: “So the BBC launched a war without a battle plan.”
The programme was thrown into disarray yesterday in the wake of Lineker being suspended from his role as host, with the BBC claiming his tweet on the Government's policy on Channel migrants broke its impartiality rules. Wright and Shearer quickly announced they would not appear on the show in solidarity with their former England teammate.
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Other regular BBC hosts, including Alex Scott, former right-back for the England and Arsenal women's teams, also said that they would not step into the breach. Soon after, the BBC announced the drastic changes to the programme tonight.
But it quickly emerged that the show's, and the BBC's, problems were not over. Roan tweeted: "Players from various clubs have contacted PFA tonight saying they may want to show solidarity with GL & MOTD pundits over the impartiality row by boycotting BBC post-match interviews tmrw. PFA believed to be supportive of any players who choose to do so."
And Winter also weighed in on Twitter, to predict a player boycott was in the offing. He wrote: "Football's backlash against @BBC intensifies over its treatment of @GaryLineker.
"Many @premierleague players keen to show support for ex-pro pundits who step aside from @BBCMOTD. And @PFA will also fully support players who face fines for not completing required broadcast duties."
Earlier, Winter had tweeted that he was getting many messages suggesting Match of the Day was "in meltdown". He added: "Any presenter who agrees to replace Gary Lineker tomorrow night will be tainted as effectively a political appointment. Ditto any pundit."
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