Game on for Match of the Day, insists Lineker

Presenter ‘looks forward’ to show as usual despite BBC chiefs insisting tweet row has not been resolved

GARY LINEKER has challenged the BBC by publicly stating that he will appear on Match of the Day as usual tomorrow, despite the ongoing row over his social media use.

The presenter suggested that the anger over his anti-government tweets was a storm in a teacup, and that he could now put it behind him.

However, insiders at the corporation insisted that nothing had been resolved.

“Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days. Happy that this ridiculously out of proportion story seems to be abating and very much looking forward to presenting @bbcmotd on Saturday,” he said. “Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming,” he tweeted to his 8.7 million followers.

Lineker and Jon Holmes, his agent, held talks with BBC management, but it is understood that no agreement was reached on a way forward.

“There has been no resolution. The matter is ongoing. They understand our position, which is that we take this very seriously, and that position has not changed,” an insider said.

By suggesting that he considered the matter closed, Lineker was putting the ball firmly in the BBC’S court. The corporation faces difficulties in dealing with the issue because the presenter is self-employed, therefore does not believe that impartiality rules should apply to him. He continued to tweet about politics in defiance of the BBC’S editorial guidelines.

A grinning Lineker emerged from his home in south-west London yesterday and when asked if he feared suspension, he replied: “No.”

Tory MPS said that the BBC must stand firm. Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary, told The Daily Telegraph: “What’s the point of Tim Davie implementing a 10-point impartiality plan if they’re going to just allow this from Gary Lineker, who earns £1.3million of taxpayers’ money?”

Andrew Marr, the former BBC journalist, said that the corporation was in an “a completely impossible position” with the Tories using Lineker as a “stick to beat it with”.

“Now that he has become such a useful weapon against the BBC, the BBC should part company with this sports presenter. But it can’t just sack him for bias because next everyone would return to the small issue of its own chairman being so closely connected to the Tory Party in general and Boris Johnson in particular,” he said on his LBC show. “The Beeb can’t effectively discipline Lineker either because he refuses to be effectively disciplined. I’m afraid that the BBC is well and truly stuffed over this one.”

Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, said she found the comments personally offensive because her husband’s family were victims of the Holocaust. “My children are therefore directly descendant [sic] from people who were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust.

“And my husband’s family feels very keenly the impact of the Holocaust,” she told Nick Robinson’s Political Thinking podcast. “To throw out those kinds of flippant analogies diminishes the unspeakable tragedy that millions of people went through. I find it a lazy and unhelpful comparison to make.”

Lucy Frazer, the current Culture Secretary, said Lineker’s comments were “disappointing and inappropriate.”

A BBC source said last night “conversations continue” and matters are ongoing.