Alan Shearer and Ian Wright appear on Match of the Day rival after backing Gary Lineker

Alan Shearer and Ian Wright have appeared on a different football programme after they snubbed Match of the Day over Gary Lineker's suspension.

Match of the Day presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker was suspended by the BBC this week after he criticisd the UK government on Twitter.

Lineker likened the language used in the Conservative government's controversial Ilegal Migration Bill to that used in 1930s Germany, and was suspended for breaching the BBC's impartiality rules.

Wright and Shearer, due to appear on Match of the Day on Saturday as pundits, withdrew from the programme in protest. Several potential replacement hosts and pundits including Alex Scott, Micah Richards, Jermaine Jenas and Mark Chapman also ruled themselves out.

When the commentators scheduled to cover Saturday's Premier League fixtures also boycotted, the BBC decided to broadcast a stripped-back 20-minute version of Match of the Day which consisted of back-to-back highlights with no analysis, commentary or post-match interviews with players or managers.

Football Focus and Final Score were also pulled from the broadcast schedule as more and more presenters, pundits and producers decided to strike.

Shearer and Wright received widespread praise for being the first two BBC regulars to boycott, and on Sunday they delivered another blow to the broadcaster.

Taking to Twitter, Shearer revealed that he and Wright were appearing on Premier League TV's coverage of Sunday's games, a programme that is sent out to overseas broadcasters of English football.

Hellllooooo @IanWright0!! @premierleague tv today with @julesbreach and Wrighty!!! pic.twitter.com/Pt0SyhTR7f

— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) March 12, 2023

Shearer posted a photo of himself and Wright posing on the Premier League set with presenter Jules Breach, with the caption: "Hellllooooo @IanWright0!!"

Both announced via Twitter on Friday evening that they would not be appearing on Match of the Day.

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

An hour later, Shearer posted: "I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night."

Speaking on his Wrighty's House podcast, Wright said he will be "gone" if the BBC fire Lineker.

It's unclear at this stage whether Lineker - or any of the pundits - will return to Match of the Day next weekend.