What Match of the Day fallout means for Manchester United and Man City highlights

The world’s most famous football programme, Match of the Day, is set to take up a very different format this weekend after a public fallout between lead presenter Gary Lineker and the BBC prompted a mass boycott from fellow hosts, pundits and commentators.

The corporation had decided to remove the TV host - who attended Leicester's home loss to Chelsea - from Saturday night’s episode after he refused to apologise for a tweet he had posted regarding a new government immigration policy, with the BBC taking the view that he had broken its impartiality standards.

In response, scheduled pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright said they would not be participating in the show, sparking other potential replacements and regulars to do the same.

READ MORE: Further blow to BBC show following Gary Lineker controversy

Then, commentators who were due to call the games in unison declared that they would not pick up the microphones this weekend. Meanwhile, Alex Scott told the BBC she would not be fronting weekly Saturday lunchtime show Football Focus, with Jason Mohammed and pundits also choosing to step back from afternoon programme Final Score.

The Professional Footballers’ Association announced earlier in the day that it would support Premier League players from speaking to the BBC for interviews, after which it was confirmed that no Match of the Day interviewers would approach personnel for pre and post-match chats.

Soon afterwards, BBC Radio 5 Live staff withdrew from scheduling in protest against the BBC’s decision to step Lineker down from presenting duties. As a result of the mass boycotts, Match of the Day is now set to run highlights without any punditry and commentary in what will be a severely stripped-back show.

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