Legendary soccer player and British BBC commentator Gary Lineker will return to the air: the channel's management has canceled the removal of Lineker from the air for a post on Twitter in which he criticized the new policy of the British government regarding the granting of asylum to refugees arriving in the UK.
«Gary «A valuable part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary,» said the channel's CEO Tim Davy_, «_I'm looking forward to his next report this coming weekend.»
The British national broadcaster was forced to cut much of its sports programming over the weekend after commentators, analysts and Premier League players withdrew from the channel's programs in solidarity with Lineker.
One of the most famous players in English football and the highest paid TV presenters th corporation, Lineker was suspended on Friday after he tweeted that conservative government stances on migrants were compared to the rhetoric of Nazi Germany during World War II. The BBC said the tweet violated impartiality rules, but critics accused the channel of stifling freedom of speech.
BBC chief Tim Davy said there would be an independent review of the company's social media rules, to eliminate «gray areas» in the posting rules.