Gary Lineker: BBC Sport presenter to return as host of Match of the Day football programme
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Gary Lineker has presented sport on the BBC for nearly thirty years
Gary Lineker says he 'cannot wait' after it was announced he is to return as presenter of Match of the Day.
It comes after he was taken off BBC Sport's main football programme by BBC bosses last week.
It follows a disagreement between Lineker and the BBC over what he is allowed or not allowed to say on social media after he made comments criticising the government's controversial new immigration plans.
The move led to several other BBC TV and radio weekend sport shows being cancelled or disrupted at the last minute after other sport presenters and experts said they would not appear on BBC programmes in support of Lineker.
However, the BBC has now said it has reached a deal with Lineker, which will see the presenter back on BBC screens and it also announced it will look into its social media rules for presenters.
What happened?
The government says it wants to tackle the number of people entering the UK illegally
Gary Lineker was taken off Match of the Day (MOTD) by BBC bosses after he refused to apologise over a tweet he made about the government's new immigration plans.
Last week, the UK government announced it wants to ban migrants who arrive in the UK illegally from being able to claim asylum. That means they won't be able to stay in the UK in the future.
This is because of a big increase in the number of people crossing the English Channel in small boats.
But many politicians from other parties, charities and other public figures think it's unfair to treat migrants this way and strongly disagreed with the government's plans.
Migrants have different reasons for trying to come to the UK - some come from countries like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq where homes have been destroyed or people need to escape for their safety.
Some come because they are persecuted or punished in their home country because of things such as their religion, political beliefs or sexuality.
Others are coming to the UK illegally in hope of finding more opportunities.
Among those was MOTD host Gary Lineker, who has previously spoken in support of migrants, and reacted to the government's announcement by posting on social media platform Twitter.
He wrote that it was an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".
Suella Braverman said the new bill was a response to the "waves of illegal migrants breaching our borders"
This is a reference to the time when Hitler and Nazis were in power in Germany and many Jewish people were discriminated against due to their religious background.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who had announced the idea, was very angry about this. She said she felt this particularly because her husband is Jewish.
She said Lineker's comments "diminishes the unspeakable tragedy" of the Holocaust - an event in which more than six million Jewish people were killed by the Nazis.
Lineker was told by the BBC he had to apologise for his tweets or would be unable to present Match of the Day at the weekend.
When he refused to do so, he was taken off the show.
Some people think the BBC was wrong to take Gary Lineker off Match of the Day, and many BBC Sport presenters publicly announced that they would not to appear on other BBC Sport programmes.
However, others, including many politicians in the government, argued that the BBC had made the right decision, and have said that comments Lineker has made on social media are inappropriate.
What has been agreed between the BBC and Gary Lineker?
The BBC's boss Tim Davie had said that asking Gary Lineker to step aside was appropriate and the "right thing" to do
The BBC has now said it has reached a deal with Lineker, which will see the presenter back on screens and presenting Match of the Day again from this weekend.
The man in charge of the BBC, Director-General Tim Davie said: "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."
In a statement, Mr Davie also announced the BBC will launch an independent review into its social media rules, with a particular focus on freelance staff who work outside of BBC's news and current affairs departments, such as Lineker.
Mr Davie added that Mr Lineker had agreed to follow the BBC's current social media rules while the review takes place.
Gary Lineker responded by thanking his supporters and BBC colleagues and said: "I am glad that we have found a way forward. I support this review and look forward to getting back on air."
What can BBC presenters say?
The BBC has strict social media rules for its staff and presenters who work in news
The BBC as an organisation is supposed to be impartial. That means that it needs to reflect different views on a certain subject and doesn't have an opinion itself.
This is considered particularly important when it comes to the news, telling people what's happening around the world.
For this reason a journalist - that means a person who reports on the news - needs to be be impartial all the time.
However, Gary Lineker works in sport and not in news and he is not a journalist - so the rules around his job are slightly different.
He is employed by the BBC on a freelance basis, and has hosted Match of the Day since 1999.
People can be employed in their jobs in different ways.
If you are freelance it means that a company pays you for the work you do for them but that you can also work for other companies.
This is why some people have argued that he should be allowed to express his opinions on social media.
But he is currently the BBC's highest paid star, having earned about £1.35m in 2020-21, so some are saying what he says is significant.
Why has there been criticism of the BBC?
The BBC has been accused of treating Gary Lineker unfairly, although the organisation denies this
Some people say that Gary Lineker hasn't been treated fairly by the BBC and that the organisation has been influenced by the government in its decision to have removed Gary from his presenting job.
When asked about this, Mr Davie denied this, stating "it's not true".
The BBC is meant to remain impartial - or neutral - no matter which political party is in government.
However some critics have accused the BBC of double standards because of another argument surrounding the BBC's Chairman, Richard Sharp - a position that is appointed by the government, and who the current Conservative party government selected for the role.
Earlier this year Mr Sharp was accused of securing a loan of up to £800,000 for the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
You can think of it a bit like Mr Davie as a headteacher at a school, making everyday decisions whilst Mr Sharp is the leader of the school governors, who oversee the performance of the school and holds the headteacher to account.
Critics say Mr Sharp can't do his job, part of which is defending impartiality at the BBC, when these allegations have been made against him.
Mr Sharp said he had not been involved in making a loan, a guarantee or arranging any financing.
The BBC say they are also conducting a review, looking into whether Mr Sharp's alleged actions or personal interests could affect his current job as BBC chairman.
Despite this argument, some people still feel strongly that Lineker was wrong to tweet what he did and that the BBC should have stuck to their original decision and not allowed him back to present MOTD.
They feel a famous BBC presenter like Lineker should not be able to criticise the government on Twitter because he is employed by a company which is meant to be impartial.