Joe Lycett weighs in on Gary Lineker’s Match of the Day suspension amid BBC row

Joe Lycett has joked that he has informed the BBC that he would be ‘very much available’ to replace Gary Lineker as Match of the Day presenter after the football pundit was suspended from hosting this week’s show.

The BBC announced on Friday (10 March) that Lineker would not be presenting the show until an agreement could be made over his use of social media. The ex-England striker had earlier in the week compared the language in a Home Office video about asylum seekers to “1930s Germany” - sparking a backlash from Conservative politicians.

Following his removal from Match of the Day, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer - both regular pundits on the programme - announced that they would not appear this weekend out of solidarity for Lineker. Six of the show’s regular commentators have also announced that they will be boycotting it this weekend.

In typical Lycett fashion, the Birmingham comedian took to Twitter to say he would be up for replacing Lineker as host - posting an image from his Laura Kuenssberg interview in September when he sarcastically said he is ‘actuallly very right wing’.

He posted the picture with the caption: “I have informed the BBC that I am very much available for tomorrow’s Match of the Day.”

Many praised Lycett for his joke. One person replied: “Fantastic, if you’re half as good as you were in Newcastle last September you’ll be magical.”

Another said: ““Brilliant. Fingers crossed they’ll take you up on your offer.”

Why is Gary Lineker not presenting Match of the Day?

On Friday, the BBC announced said it had “decided” Lineker would take a break from presenting the highlights programme until an “agreed and clear position” on his use of social media had been reached. It comes after the ex-England striker became embroiled in a row over impartiality after comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany on Twitter.

An online petition calling for Lineker to be reinstated in his post reached 100,000 signatures in under 10 hours.

The BBC announced on Friday that the episode of MOTD on Saturday (11 March) would go ahead without a presenter or pundits following the boycott after Gary Lineker was removed from the show. The broadcaster said it would “focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry” saying it understood the position of its presenters.

The match commentary will also likely be supplied by World Feed as commentators have joined in the boycott this weekend. It has also been reported that managers and players in the Premier League are reluctant to take part in interviews with BBC as a result of the Lineker decision.