Gary Lineker to return to hosting sport for the BBC following row over migration tweets

Gary Lineker is to return to presenting sport on the BBC after he was taken off air over his tweets criticising the government’s migration policy.

It is understood the corporation will apologise to the Match Of The Day presenter.

It follows a chaotic few days which saw reduced football coverage across the BBC over the weekend as pundits, commentators and other staff refused to work in protest of Lineker’s removal from the show.

Saturday night’s Match Of The Day aired for just 20 minutes without commentary, pundit analysis, post-match interviews and its theme music.

Lineker was criticised by Conservative politicians after comparing the language used in the government’s new asylum policy with 1930s Germany.

On Friday, the BBC announced Lineker would “step back” from hosting the weekly football highlights programme.

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However, the corporation’s decision sparked a backlash, with pundits Ian Wright and Alan Shearer refusing to appear on the show, with several other football presenters, pundits and commentators following suit.

The disruption to the BBC’s sports coverage went beyond the flagship Match of the Day show.

Match of the Day 2 coverage was just 15 minutes long after Jermain Defoe said he would not appear on air.

Lineker has not tweeted or commented publicly since the corporation forced him off air.

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