MATCH OF THE DAY REDUCED TO 20 MINUTES AS GARY LINEKER 'STEPS BACK'

The BBC have confirmed that Match Of The Day will broadcast this weekend, but for just 20 minutes and with no presenters or pundits.

It followed controversy over comments Gary made criticising the UK government's asylum policy this week on Twitter. The BBC has confirmed that the show will air tonight (Saturday 11 March) at 10:20pm on BBC One.

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."

A BBC spokesperson also said earlier: "The BBC will only be able to bring limited sport programming this weekend and our schedules will be updated to reflect that. We are sorry for these changes which we recognise will be disappointing for BBC sport fans. We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon."

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 guideline

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."