Rio Ferdinand ‘taking full credit’ for Alan Shearer BBC boycott
Chris Evans discusses Gary Lineker contract situation amid BBC row
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Rio Ferdinand has said he is ‘taking full credit’ for Alan Shearer’s decision to boycott the BBC’s weekend football coverage following the suspension of Gary Lineker. The former Manchester United defender sent the Newcastle record goalscorer a voice note after Ian Wright confirmed he would not be appearing on Match of the Day, something Ferdinand has jokingly claimed changed his friend’s decision.
The BBC was thrust into crisis on Friday night after announcing that Lineker would be taken off air over a tweet that compared the language surrounding the Government’s immigration policy to that of 1930s Germany.
The Beeb’s announcement prompted a furious response from fans and many within the football community as Wright and Shearer decided to take a stance against the decision. The Arsenal legend was the first to confirm he would not be appearing in a show of ‘solidarity’ with Newcastle hero joining him an hour later.
Now Ferdinand has tried to claim credit for the 52-year-old’s choice, jokingly claiming his voice note changed his friend’s mind after sending him it following Wright’s decision as he played it out on his YouTube channel FIVE.
“I’ll play the voice note I left Alan Shearer,” he said. “This is before he made a decision so I’m taking full credit for pushing him into joining Wrighty and Lineker.”
He then played the voice note aloud and the whole thing was picked up by microphones. It said: “I’ve just seen a tweet from Wrighty. He just said listen, I’ve told the BBC that I’m out this weekend, it’s not for me. Solidarity with Big Links.
“What the f*** is big Al gonna do? What’s Shearer gonna do? Where are you, where are ya?!”
“And after that, he made the statement that he wasn’t gonna we’re gonna be on Match of the Day,” he added. “So obviously it was down to [me].”
The situation between Lineker and the BBC has since been resolved with Shearer and Wright facing no punishment for their decision to boycott Saturday’s show.
Lineker and Shearer will return to screens this weekend as they front the BBC’s live coverage of the FA Cup quarter-finals as the broadcast looks to return to normal following the fiasco over the weekend.
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