Gary Lineker saga: Final Score latest football programme pulled from air amid Match of the Day suspension
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The BBC’s Final Score is the latest football news programme to be pulled from air as those who work on the show bow out in solidarity with Gary Lineker. It comes after today’s (Saturday, March 11) episode of Football Focus, which is typically hosted by Alex Scott and was due to air at noon, was also dropped.
BBC commentator Marc Webber said Final Score reporters had "decided to stand down from our duties today" as the fallout from the row continues. He said: “As a result, no Final Score will be broadcast today. We all love the BBC and are proud to work for such a great broadcaster."
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Hide AdJason Mohammad also confirmed he will no longer appear on the programme this afternoon. As a result of the changes, today’s BBC One schedule is looking a little different,with Football Focus replaced with an episode of Bargain Hunt and Final Score with The Repair Shop.
It follows Gary Lineker being forced off Match of the Day in a row over impartiality after he compared the language used to launch a new government asylum policy with 1930s Germany. In a tweet, he said: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ‘30s, and I’m out of order?"
The BBC said the broadcaster was stepping back from MOTD until there is an "agreed and clear position" on his social media use. But the move has prompted much backlash from fans of the show, some of whom say they have “cancelled their TV licence fee” as they feel the BBC has “sold its soul”.
It is understood that Mark Chapman will also step down from presenting BBC Radio 5 Live Sport this afternoon, Sky News reported. The programme was due to air from 12pm to 3pm.
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