(LONDON) BBC chief executive Tim Davie said on Saturday he will not step down despite the storm sparked by the suspension of star presenter Gary Lineker, who was sanctioned for a tweet criticizing the government, and disruptions to the broadcast group’s sports broadcasts British.
“Everyone wants to settle the situation calmly,” Mr Davie said in a BBC interview.
Gary Lineker, former soccer player and host of the very popular show Match Of The Daywas suspended on Friday, after accusing the British government of using Nazi-era rhetoric to crack down on illegal immigration.
This suspension led to the disruption of BBC sports programming on television and radio.
Several soccer broadcast consultants, such as former England internationals Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, have decided to withdraw from their programs in “solidarity”.
Match Of The Day, a veritable institution in the United Kingdom where the program has been broadcast since 1964, aired for the first time on Saturday without a presenter, consultant or even commentary, as part of a shortened 20-minute program on the highlights from six games in the English Premier League.
The Football Focus weekend preview show and results show Final Score were taken off the grid and Radio 5Live’s coverage disrupted.
Asked about his possible resignation, Mr Davie replied: “Absolutely not”, saying “looking forward to us resolving this situation”.
” Sorry ”
“To be clear, success for me would be for Gary to come back on the air and together we bring international sports coverage to the public,” he added, saying he was “sorry we weren’t able to provide it today.
The words of ex-athlete Gary Lineker, who regularly shares his progressive opinions with his 8.8 million subscribers, sparked a lively controversy in a very tense context around immigration issues but also recurring criticism of impartiality aimed at public broadcasting on the part of the British right.
The BBC initially said it would “talk” to the presenter.
On Friday, the audiovisual group finally “decided that (Gary Lineker) was going to withdraw from the presentation of Match Of The Day until we have a clear agreement with him on his use of social networks”.
An online petition in support surpassed 190,000 signatures on Saturday morning and the hashtag #BoycottBBC is trending on Twitter.
On the political side, the audiovisual group’s decision has been denounced by many personalities, from the Labor opposition to Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who described the BBC’s position as “indefensible”. According to her, it “endangers freedom of expression in the face of political pressure”.
According to the newspaper The Daily Express On Saturday, a group of 36 British Conservative MPs reportedly wrote a letter to the group’s chief executive, Tim Davie, demanding an “unqualified” apology from the presenter.
Impartiality
“The BBC has undermined its own credibility by appearing to bend to government pressure,” said former BBC director general Greg Dyke. According to him, the duty of impartiality required of employees working on political news should not apply to presenters of entertainment programs.
The BBC is regularly attacked by Tories who accuse it of reporting on Brexit in a biased way and of being focused on the concerns of urban elites.
The group has since made impartiality a “priority” and, on the advice of the government, Richard Sharp was appointed in 2021 to the presidency of the BBC.
But this appointment is the subject of criticism because this former banker, donor known to the Conservative party, would have played the matchmaker shortly before his appointment to help former Prime Minister Boris Johnson obtain a loan of 800,000 pounds (1.33 million C$).
Gary Lineker, 48 goals in England until his retirement in 1994, did not react publicly to his suspension but repeated this week that he fully assumed his words.
Nicknamed “Mr Nice” for his impeccable behavior throughout his career – he has never received a single yellow card – he is used to expressing his political positions on social networks, in particular against Brexit. and pro-migrants.
The new bill, which according to the government aims to put an end to the illegal arrival of migrants through the English Channel, has been criticized by human rights groups and by the UN, which has accused London of wanting to ” put an end to the right of asylum”.