No presenter or pundits for Saturday’s Match Of The Day amid Gary Lineker row

Gary Lineker will not be on Match of the Day this weekend (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)
Gary Lineker will not be on Match of the Day this weekend (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

Saturday’s Match Of The Day will “focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry” after several former footballers pulled out of the show.

Alan Shearer and Ian Wright announced on Friday their boycott following the BBC saying it had “decided” Gary Lineker would take a break from presenting the highlights programme until an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media had been reached.

In response to them not appearing, a BBC spokesperson said: “Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary.

“We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.”

Lineker, 62, has been embroiled in a row over impartiality after comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum policy with 1930s Germany on Twitter.