BBC bosses say they are "working hard" to repair damage from Lineker fallout
Last night's Match of the Day featured no presenter, commentators, or pundits
Last updated 12th Mar 2023
The BBC's Director General says bosses are "working very hard" to fix the damage done to the broadcaster following the suspension of Gary Lineker.
The former England striker was suspended from hosting Match of the Day, after he tweeted critical comments on the government's immigration policies.
Match Of The Day was rebranded as "Premier League Highlights" during its broadcast on Saturday evening.
The programmed aired without presenters, pundits, or even its famous theme tune - instead broadcasting only short highlight clips of the day's matches.
Between each clip, a graphic appeared displaying which teams were playing.
While the usual match commentary was replaced with the sound of the crowd inside each stadium.
BBC director-general Tim Davie called Gary Lineker the "best" sports broadcaster in the world, and said people should be "fighting for" an impartial BBC.
He told BBC News: "Let's be clear - we've got the best sports broadcaster in the world. We want to make sure that he can come back on air, we work together to make that happen and everyone wants to see a reasonable solution to this."
A snap YouGov poll has said 53% of the British public think the BBC was wrong to suspend Lineker from Match Of The Day following his comments on the Government's asylum policy.
The data found also that 27% thought the broadcaster was right to suspend him - while 20% did not know.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement that the row surrounding Lineker and the BBC is "a matter for them, not the Government", as he acknowledged "not everyone will always agree" with his new asylum policy.