BBC Reinstates Sports Announcer Gary Lineker After Dispute

The BBC struck a deal with its top sports presenter that will allow him back on air, days after it ignited a staff rebellion by suspending him for tweeting about politics, David Luhnow reports.

After a tumultuous weekend that saw the broadcaster dramatically cut back its sports coverage, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said the company would allow Gary Lineker back on air and promised to carry out an independent review of the company’s social-media guidelines, which he said had gray areas.

The about-face came after days of turmoil at the broadcaster and a national debate about the balance between free speech and the state-funded media company’s crucial role as the country’s leading source of news and the need for it to remain impartial.

“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,” Mr. Davie said. He apologized about the disruption to sports coverage over the past few days, which included having no commentary during its flagship roundup show of the weekend’s top soccer games—a program hosted by Mr. Lineker called “Match of the Day.”

The about-face came after days of turmoil at the broadcaster and a national debate about the balance between free speech and the state-funded media company’s crucial role as the country’s leading source of news and the need for it to remain impartial.

Lineker, 62, said on Twitter that he was enormously proud to work at the BBC and that he looked forward to returning on air.

Lineker, the company’s highest-paid sports broadcaster and a former England soccer star, last week sharply criticized the U.K. government’s new policy targeting asylum seekers who arrive by crossing the English Channel on small boats, comparing the government’s rhetoric to Nazi Germany. It was only the latest incident in which his views angered some supporters of the ruling Conservative Party.

After several leading figures of the party complained, including 36 members of parliament, the BBC suspended him, saying he broke the company’s social-media guidelines that urge employees not to engage in partisan politics.