The BBC's decision to take Gary Lineker off Match of the Day duties tonight has had seismic repercussions.
It has resulted is an incredible wave of backlash from both the general public and within the organisation. The broadcaster's football coverage this weekend has ground to a halt, with pundits and other employees refusing to take part in their flagship shows such as Football Focus and Five Live.
The situation was certainly an avoidable one. The way the BBC have reacted to Lineker's rather innocuous tweet due to pressure within the Tory government has been remarkable. It certainly brings into question their own 'impartiality' rules, where it is seemingly acceptable to question only one side of the aisle in British politics.
Gary Lineker has received overwhelming support in light of this situation, although not everyone is on his side.
Eamon Dunphy says BBC were right to suspend Gary Lineker
Eamon Dunphy is one of the few voices in the media that has backed the BBC's decision to suspend Gary Lineker.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, the former RTÉ pundit labelled the tweet from the Match of the Day host as 'attention seeking'.
There is no doubt that the Tory government are loathsome. They are right-wing slags and sleazeballs, but they cannot be compared to the Nazis.
It was stupid of Gary Lineker to make that comparison as it diminishes the real horror of what the Jewish people went through at the hands of the Nazis.
He has been outspoken on social media before but this time he has gone over the top. It was outrageous and provocative. I think it was attention seeking...
I am all for free speech and I don’t like to see people being censored, but in this case what Lineker has posted was an insult to the Jewish people.
This seems like a major stretch from Dunphy.
We certainly can't see this opinion of Gary Lineker catching on, with the 62-year old still having an overwhelming level of support among the general public.
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