The BBC’s weekend football TV schedule is collapsing like a cricket side, with its regular late Saturday afternoon show Football Focus – which usually highlights the day’s Premier League matches – having to be pulled, after a list of high-profile names announced today they were boycotting the show.
UPDATE:
In a sign that the debacle is spreading beyond the BBC, the Professional Footballers’ Association has in the last hour announced that no players today will be giving post-match interviews to the show. This decision was reported to have come after players made enquiries about how to show their support for Lineker and co.
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The main presenter, former footballer Alex Scott, has added her name to those stepping back from broadcasting duties this weekend in support of Match of the Day host Gary Lineker – benched by the BBC after he tweeted his views opposing the government’s migration policy.
Scott shared her decision not to present Football Focus on Twitter:
And sports reporter Kelly Somers also confirmed she wouldn’t be appearing:
Sky News reported that pundits Glenn Murray and Anita Asante have also withdrawn from today’s programme.
This follows a catalogue of pundits and commentators boycotting Match of the Day, the BBC’s flagship football show and the the broadcaster’s decision to air instead a highlights reel, with no faces in the studio this evening. Lineker is the BBC’s highest paid presenter, but has come under fire this week after he said the government’s freshly announced migration policy was using language not dissimilar to that used by “Germany in the 30s”.
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