GARY Lineker has joked about having a “really quiet” week as he makes his first TV appearance since his row with the BBC over his Twitter messages.
The Match of the Day presenter, 62, appeared on La Liga TV and praised the “amazing amount of support” he’d received from friends and colleagues.
The former England striker, who also played for Barca, also looked ahead to the upcoming El Clasico during the interview.
Lineker also emphasised the situation with the corporation had been “resolved” and confirmed he would be returning to his BBC role on Saturday.
When asked by La Liga TV how his week had been, Lineker jokingly replied: “Really quiet. Nothing much going on. You could say it’s been an interesting week but I’m still here, still punching.
“It was interesting and also hugely gratifying. I had an amazing amount of support from my friends and colleagues which was quite beautiful actually.”
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He added: “It was totally disproportionate the whole thing but we’re OK. It’s resolved, I’m relieved, I’m back to work tomorrow and all is well with the world.”
It comes after BBC director general Tim Davie announced that Lineker would be returning to host the football show on Saturday.
He also apologised for the impartiality row and said a review of the BBC’s social media guidelines would take place.
It comes as the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, on £1.35million a year, had been suspended from his Match of the Day presenting duties, following a tweet criticising Suella Braverman’s migrant boats plan.
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Lineker took to Twitter to hit out at the Illegal Migration Bill, which bans people who arrive on small boats from settling in Britain.
Lineker faced a wave of fury over the crisis after he failed to apologise himself for his tweet comparing the Government’s new migrant plan to 1930s Germany.
The comment attracted criticism from MPs and was branded “offensive” by the Home Secretary.
Lineker’s words were considered in breach of the BBC’s strict impartiality rules which state that staff must avoid taking sides on political controversies and remain impartial.
In a statement, the BBC previously said it had “decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”.
Lineker’s co-hosts on Match of The Day, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer also stepped back from the show in support of their colleague.
Wright tweeted: “Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”
Alan Shearer quickly followed suit and said: “I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.”
Alex Scott, Jermaine Jenas, Micah Richards and Mark Chapman also banded together in support of Lineker, meaning Match of the Day went ahead without a presenter, pundits or commentary on the broadcast.
It meant Match Of The Day ran for just 20 minutes on Saturday – without commentary or even the iconic theme tune.
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Disruption caused by the sudden staff uprising also saw Football Focus, Final Score, the Fighting Talk podcast and 5Live’s 606 football phone in cancelled.
And Match Of The Day 2 ran for just 14 minutes, again with no commentary or presenters.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
