Newspaper headlines: BBC faces 'revolt' over Lineker as stars walk out

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By BBC News
Staff
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Lineker has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and is the BBC's highest paid star

Gary Lineker's suspension from Match of the Day dominates most of the front pages.

"Mutiny of the Day" says the Times. The Sun and the Daily Mail also use the word "mutiny" in their headlines.

The Daily Mirror has details of what it calls the "turmoil" inside the programme, with one source telling the paper that "lots of people" are backing Gary Lineker.

People have told the Sun that there is a "meltdown" behind the scenes, with producers unsure how to "get a show out", as the paper puts it.

The Daily Telegraph reports it will be the first time in Match of the Day's 59-year history that it airs without a presenter.

Gary Lineker's career is "hanging by a thread" according to the Mail, which quotes one insider describing the situation as a "proper BBC crisis".

The presenter is accused of being a "man of power" trying to "defy the ref" by Charles Moore in his column for the Daily Telegraph. But, writing in the Guardian, Jonathan Freedland suggests Gary Lineker deserves "admiration" for speaking out against what he calls a "naked injustice".

The i weekend asks whether the BBC's political independence has been called into question, while the Daily Mirror describes the decision to take the host off air as "not only craven, but hypocritical" - saying that Richard Sharp remains the corporation's chairman despite claims of his involvement in arranging a loan for Boris Johnson.

But, there's support from the BBC's position from the Daily Express, which says that Gary Lineker left it with "no choice but to act" and it applauds their "courage" in doing so. The Mail agrees, it says the BBC is right to put him on the bench.

"Militant doctors" are trying to shut down hospitals during next week's NHS strikes, according to the Daily Telegraph. It says they won't tell their bosses if they are walking out, forcing hospital trusts to prepare for the worst. NHS England says it is working hard to mitigate the impact of the industrial action.

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The Daily Express hails what it calls the "extraordinary" deal between Britain and France to stop migrants crossing the Channel. But, beneath a picture of Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, the online paper the Independent questions what the UK gets out of the agreement and asks, "le bromance... but where's le boeuf?".

The Daily Telegraph thinks Mr Sunak has been seduced by President Macron's "Gallic Charm" and just handed over money to help the French police do their job.

The Guardian reports on a survey by the sexual abuse charity, Dignify, that found one in 10 teenagers say they are addicted to pornography.

It says teachers are being left to "pick up the pieces" caused by violent material. One head-teacher tells the paper that they've had to give their staff special training to deal with a large increase in reports of sexual abuse.

And the Times says that the ChatGPT AI progamme has developed a puzzle to as it put it, "keep the humans busy". It says a game developer asked the computer to create something similar to Sudoku - and it came up with Sumplete, which asks players to delete numbers from a grid to make each row and column add up to a target number.