good afternoon. the bbc has cancelled two of its football shows, football focus and final score, after a number of presenters and pundits refused to take part, as controversy continues over the corporation s decision to take gary lineker off match of the day. the presenter will not be hosting the programme tonight after criticising the government s language about migrants on social media. former bbc director general greg dyke said the corporation had made a mistake and undermined its own credibility. last night the bbc said that gary lineker would be stepping back until there is an agreed and clear position on his use of social media. our media correspondent david sillito reports. when gary lineker left home this morning, it wasn t his normal saturday schedule. morning, it wasn t his normal saturday schedule. morning, it wasn t his normal saturda schedule. . ., ., , saturday schedule. have you had any discussions. saturday schedule. have you had any discussions. the satu
now uncertaintly remains over sunday s sports programming and whether more presenters and pundits willjoin the boycott in support of gary lineker. police and demonstrators clash across france over welfare reforms as the upper house of parliament passes a bill that will raise the pension age to 64. the british chancellor meets the governor of the bank of england, to discuss the collapse of silicon valley bank after the failure of its parent company in the us. and the countdown to the oscars begins but who will be smiling at the end of hollywood s biggest event of the year? hello and welcome to bbc news. talks are continuing to try to resolve the row that s led to widespread disruption of football coverage across the bbc. there are fears that more programming could be affected on sunday, including the women s super league and match of the day two. sports presenters boycotted saturday s programmes in support of gary lineker, who was asked to step down from match of the day
points out the role of the bbc chairman richard sharp and the controversy around his ties to the man who appointed him to that all borisjohnson, he is appointed by the prime minister is a bbc chairman, not the bbc itself. the controversy around the ties he had at the time, the fact is boris johnson was appointing him, he was helping borisjohnson arrange a very large loan and richard sharp did not disclose that fact to mps who were scrutinising the process. this is what rachel reeves said. richard shar , the what rachel reeves said. richard sharp, the chairman what rachel reeves said. richard sharp, the chairman of what rachel reeves said. richard sharp, the chairman of the - what rachel reeves said. richard sharp, the chairman of the bbc l sharp, the chairman of the bbc donated sharp, the chairman of the bbc donated £400,000 to the conservative party. donated £400,000 to the conservative party. help donated £400,000 to the conservative party, help facilitate an £800,000 l
entertainment grabs in as well instead. it is unclear where that goes after today. presenters tweeting saying they hope it is resolved for next week. so we will see there. but equally, as you were hearing from lucy powell there, and david sillitoe, this has sort of snowballed wider than that into questions about tim davie, his own impartiality, his own decision making, is he being seen to act under political pressure. he says this is all about the impartiality that he really values about those questions then being raised about the bbc s own chairman, richard sharp. and you had david refer to those, richard sharp appointed by borisjohnson when he was prime minister, at the time of the appointment richard sharp had gone to borisjohnson to help him arrange an £800,000 loan facility. richard sharp did not disclose that two mps who were scrutinising the process.