Recently, BBC came into controversy for showing a documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then cited freedom of expression.
Image Credit source: AFP
A few weeks back, the British Broadcasting Corporation i.e. BBC, embroiled in controversies due to a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, is now embroiled in a ruckus in its own house. The reason for the ruckus, an employee’s opposition to government policies. BBC has thrown out the main presenter of its famous football show ‘Match of the Day’ and former England footballer Gary Lineker due to his controversial tweet, which has raised questions on the media organization.
In Britain, the BBC’s Match of the Day show is very popular among football fans and in addition to Lineker, many former English Premier League legends and well-known footballers analyze matches. Linekar has been the face of the show for a long time but after the current controversy, he has been thrown out of the show for some time.
Gary Lineker criticized the government
The new refugee policy of the British government became the root of this controversy. UK Home Secretary Suvella Braverman recently revealed the government’s plan to prevent illegal refugees from entering the UK and giving them permanent asylum. On this, Gary Lineker criticized the government policy by tweeting. Lineker described this as a very ruthless policy of the government and compared it to the policies of Hitler’s regime in Germany in 1930. The British Home Minister had also expressed objection on this.
BBC removed from the show
After this BBC asked Lineker to withdraw from the Match of the Day show. The BBC said in a statement that it would not return to the show until an agreement was reached with the veteran English footballer regarding the use of social media. This decision of BBC has heated up British politics and the organization is being accused of snatching freedom of expression. Although the BBC said that Lineker can write on social media whenever he wants, but he has been advised not to take any side on the issues of political controversy.
Veterans also left the show in support
At the same time, angry with this decision of BBC, Linekar’s partner and other experts of the Match of the Day show also decided to boycott the show. Former striker and EPL record goalscorer Alan Shearer and former Arsenal great Ian Wright, who are regulars on the show, refused to take part in Saturday’s live discussions after Premier League matches in support of Lineker. At the same time, BBC announced that Saturday’s show will continue without any expert.