And now your daily Gary Lineker Update: You won't need any more. The BBC caved as the weight of the nation demanded, and the apology demanded of him was presented to him instead. Your Monday just started off properly.
BREAKING 🚨⚽️ | Gary Lineker will return to Match of the Day and the BBC Director General Tim Davie has apologised.
— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) March 13, 2023
Collective action gets results.
In fairness, BBC head Tim Davie actually apologized for the chaos created after they suspended Lineker for tweeting his view on a proposed hate-the-immigrants bill. Everyone else associated with BBC's presentation of Match Of The Day and its ancillary soccer broadcasts walked out in support of Lineker, and what was left was the equivalent of those Norwegian shows just showing someone knitting for hours on end. A British staple turned into a detestably bland, monochrome, cheap Britain—you know, like the assured result of the immigration bill. The only pushback was Davie saying there would be a new review of social media policies at the company, which will be ill-considered and shoddily implemented because they always end that way.
But did Lineker take a victory lap? Actually, yes he damned well did, a soft touch camouflaging a haymaker to the throat. He tweeted this little three-knuckle-deep finger in the government's eye after the suspension was lifted:
A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away. It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you. 3/4
— Gary Lineker 💙💛 (@GaryLineker) March 13, 2023
And that makes the final score 13-0, a rout for the ages. The highlights won't be on Match Of The Day. Match Of The Day IS the highlight, and Lineker ends up as he was before—on an excellent side of men and women, he is the Man of the Match.
