He is one of the few footballers who has not received a red card, or even a yellow card, during the 648 matches that have marked his professional career. So Gary Lineker had to wait until he was 62 years old to be kicked out of his favorite stadium. which was not a stadium for thirty years, but a BBC television studio.
For more than twenty years, this “voice” striker has become one of the most popular and longest-running TV shows. Made in England : “Match of the day.” Saturday night MOTD has been a staple in the UK for nearly sixty years. This hour and a half program is hosted by Gary Lineker, with an estimated €1.5m annual salary and nearly two million viewers who feed on Premier League summaries.
Last Saturday, the audience for this British soap opera Sportschau jumped 2.5 million pairs of eyes behind their screens while, paradoxically, its duration was limited to twenty minutes and there was no presenter or counsellor. Just pictures without sound, except for the atmosphere of the stadiums.
The BBC’s commentary, the day before, of the man nicknamed “Mr Nice” for his on-the-ground behavior sparked debates and made the front page of the tabloids. This eviction caused several other football shows to be postponed in solidarity with the exiles and to refuse any post-match interviews with professional players from across the channel as a sign of protest.
What did he do to be suddenly fired? Has he been accused of sexual assault, as a TV consultant this side of the channel? Not at all: Gary is famous and known for rocking good tackles on his Twitter account, followed by his nearly 9 million subscribers.
Shocked by the Conservative government’s new policy of wanting to systematically deport all immigrants who entered the UK illegally, the Center did not come forward: “This law is very harsh against the most vulnerable, in language not very different from that used in Germany in the 1930s.
The BBC censors, who wanted the star’s status and freedom of speech off the hook, were finally disavowed on Monday and reinstated. Its ruling is the video-assisted rule for public opinion, audio and video, as it is his right. Lineker’s first red card was a huge foul. The game can be resumed.
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