BBC's FOOTBALL FOCUS CANCELLED AS PRESENTERS REFUSE TO APPEAR

BBC's Football Focus will NOT air today, it's been revealed. It follows lead presenter Alex Scott and pundits refusing to present the programme following the fallout of the BBC's decision to take Gary Lineker off air.

Taking to Twitter, Alex Scott said: "I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn’t feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.. Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week."

The BBC have confirmed that Match Of The Day will broadcast as planned this weekend, but without presenters or pundits.

A BBC spokesperson confirmed: "Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary. We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry."

It followed controversy over comments Gary made criticising the UK government's asylum policy this week on Twitter.

A BBC spokesperson said on Friday: "The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.

The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media. When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.

We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies."