BBC confirm Match of the Day will go ahead despite boycott from pundits

The BBC have released a statement after some pundits decided to boycott Match of the Day.

On Friday, the BBC announced that Gary Lineker will step back from the programme due to backlash over his social media posts.

The former England striker was criticised after linking the government’s new asylum policy to Nazi Germany.

On his Twitter profile, Lineker wrote: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.

“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in a language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I'm out of order?”

As a result, the BBC released a statement saying that Lineker will step back from his role as presenter of Match of the Day until they get an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

Since then, the likes of Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Alex Scott have all ruled themselves out of being on the programme this weekend.

Wright tweeted: “Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”

Whilst Shearer added: “I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.”

Due to the multiple boycotts, questions started to rise about whether the scheduled programme will go ahead tomorrow night.

The BBC have now addressed this issue, their statement 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.”

At this moment, it is unclear when the normal format will return, and whether or not Lineker will be back presenting the programme anytime soon.