BBC in Crisis Over Gary Lineker Israel Ban Tweet: ‘It Makes Them Look Moronic’
variety.comK.J. Yossman The BBC has been plunged into crisis after its highest paid anchor has been accused of breaching the broadcaster’s impartiality rules for the second time in less than a year.
Variety understands that BBC director general Tim Davie and head of content Charlotte Moore “dropped everything” on Monday to have an urgent meeting about “Match of the Day” host Gary Lineker‘s retweet of a post urging FIFA and the International Olympic Committee to ban Israel from football tournaments.
A BBC spokesperson denied that Davie and Moore had cleared their schedules to discuss the bubbling controversy and declined to confirm whether they had met. “The Palestinian Football Association calls on @iocmedia, @FIFAcom and all regional and int’l sports bodies to take an urgent stance on Israel’s grave violations of human rights and subject it to legal accountability measures,” read the tweet, which was originally posted by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott.
Lineker, who has reportedly been dubbed the “Tucker Carlson of the U.K.” by colleagues for his polemical social media presence, is said to have breached the broadcaster’s impartiality guidelines by retweeting the post, which he subsequently deleted.
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