“It doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.”
Football Focus presenter Alex Scott has decided to pull today’s show in support of Gary Lineker, whom the BBC have temporarily suspended.
Lineker is currently in an ongoing battle with his employers, who took issue with a tweet he published, in which he compared the UK government’s language in their new asylum seeker policy, to that of Germany’s in the 1930s.
Since it was announced that Lineker wouldn’t be presenting tonight’s show, the story has unravelled and the wheels have seemingly come off the BBC truck.
Fellow pundits such as Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Micah Richards have all refused to go on air, and then the commentators joined in protest as well.
The show is set to go ahead, but only as a highlights programme with no presenter or punditry.
It’s gone from bad to worse for those in charge of scheduling BBC programmes, as other shows such as Final Score and Football Focus came under threat.
Scott has come out on Twitter to state that she will not be going ahead with Football Focus, in light of everything that is going on.
I made a decision last night that even though I love doing football focus and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA award that it just doesn’t feel right going ahead with the show today. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week…
— Alex Scott MBE (@AlexScott) March 11, 2023
“I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.
“Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week….”
You can follow all of the latest news and talking points in this ever-changing and developing story on our live blog, where you get the latest news instantly: Gary Lineker vs BBC MOTD: All the latest news and talking points.
Related links:
- Gary Lineker vs BBC MOTD: All the latest news and talking points
- Gary Lineker to ‘step back from presenting MOTD’ following social media controversy
- Gary Lineker “to be spoken to” after comparing UK government’s migrant plan to Nazi Germany
