BBC seeks to end crisis by reinstating Gary Lineker

Gary Lineker. Pic/AFP

Britain's BBC said sports presenter Gary Lineker would return on air after the corporation agreed to review its social media guidelines to settle an escalating row over its impartiality. The BBC was forced to axe much of its sports coverage over the weekend after presenters, commentators and pundits refused to work in a show of solidarity with Lineker, who was suspended for criticising the government's immigration policy on Twitter.

The BBC said Lineker had breached its impartiality rules by comparing the rhetoric of Britain's interior minister Suella Braverman to the language used in 1930s Germany. But its decision to take him off air led to charges that it had bowed to pressure from the government.

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The corporation said on Monday it would now hold a review over how presenters can use social media, with a particular focus on how it applies to freelancers outside news and current affairs. "Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend," BBC Director General Tim Davie said in a statement on Monday.

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