BBC reinstates Gary Lineker to 'Match of the Day' after Twitter row

BBC has decided to reinstate sports broadcaster and former soccer great Gary Lineker who was suspended for a post on Twitter that had criticized the British government's new asylum policy.

''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.

Britain's national broadcaster was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming after commentators, analysts and Premier League players refused to appear as a show of support of Lineker.

Lineker, one of English soccer's most lauded players and the corporation's highest-paid television presenter, was suspended Friday after he compared the Conservative government's language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. The BBC said the tweet breached its impartiality rules, but critics accused it of suppressing free speech.

Davie said there would be an independent review of the BBC's social media rules to address the "gray areas" in the guidelines.

On Sunday, several members of its staff refused to work in solidarity with star football host Gary Lineker, who was taken off air over a tweet criticising the British government's migration policy.

This is the latest controversy over the role of the 100-year-old BBC after the broadcaster's neutrality came under recent scrutiny over revelations that its chairman, Richard Sharp - a donor for the governing Conservative Party - was involved in the arrangement of a loan for the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before he was appointed to the BBC post on the government's recommendation.