Alan Shearer has refused to apologise for boycotting Match of the Day last weekend and has backed Gary Lineker, speaking during the BBC's live FA Cup coverage. The former England striker returned to screens for the first time since his suspension and the subsequent chaos at the broadcaster.
The BBC was thrust into crisis last Friday after announcing that Lineker would be taken off air over a tweet comparing the language surrounding the Government's immigration policy to that of 1930s Germany. Many of Lineker's colleagues, including Ian Wright, Shearer and Alex Scott, refused to appear on any BBC Sport programmes over the weekend, leaving the broadcaster's output embarrassingly depleted. Football Focus and Final Score did not air, while Match of the Day was restricted to a 20-minute show with no punditry or commentary.
The actions of Lineker's colleagues forced the BBC into a humiliating U-turn on Monday, and he returned to screens to front the broadcaster's live coverage of Manchester City's clash with Burnley in the FA Cup. Addressing the situation, Shearer refused to apologise. 'I wanted to say how upset we were that all the audiences missed out on last weekend,' he said. 'It was a really difficult situation for everyone concerned and through no fault of their own some really great people in TV and radio were put in an impossible situation. It's good to get back to some sort of normality and be talking about football again.'
Lineker agreed with Shearer's comments, stating: 'Absolutely, I echo those sentiments.' The BBC announced that Lineker would be allowed to return to TV on Monday as the corporation conducts a review of social media guidelines for its non-news freelance employees. After his return was confirmed, Lineker tweeted about the situation, describing it as a 'surreal few days'. He wrote: 'I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming.'
Lineker is set to lead coverage of Brighton vs Grimsby on Sunday, while Mark Chapman will take charge of Match of the Day on Saturday night as Lineker focuses on live action.
