Ian Wright and Alan Shearer appear on the Premier League's television coverage of Fulham's game against Arsenal... after BBC pundits chose to boycott Match of the Day following Gary Lineker's axing
- Ian Wright and Alan Shearer appeared on Premier League TV after BBC boycott
- The pair were not present for Saturday night's Match of the Day programme
- They had both chosen not to work on the show in solidarity for host Gary Lineker
- It comes after Lineker's fallout with the BBC over comments he made on Twitter
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer have appeared on the Premier League's television coverage of Fulham vs Arsenal, after they boycotted Match of the Day in the wake of Gary Lineker's fallout with the BBC.
In solidarity with the former Leicester and Everton forward, the pair, who regularly appear on Match of the Day, refused to appear on the show, which only aired for 20 minutes with no punditry team or theme music.
But Wright and Shearer have now appeared alongside presenter Jules Breach as pundits on the game taking place at Craven Cottage today on the Premier League's television coverage.
It's been confirmed that Match of the Day 2 will also go ahead in similar circumstances tonight with Mark Chapman set to boycott the BBC's iconic football programme.
Reports suggested that Lineker had broken out crying when he learned his co-hosts Wright and Shearer had decided not to appear on the show on Saturday night.
![Ian Wright and Alan Shearer appeared on the Premier League's coverage of Fulham vs Arsenal](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/12/15/68607167-11850709-image-a-12_1678636265241.jpg)
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer appeared on the Premier League's coverage of Fulham vs Arsenal
![It comes as the pair boycotted Match of the Day following Gary Lineker¿s fallout with the BBC](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/12/15/68607165-11850709-image-a-13_1678636267967.jpg)
It comes as the pair boycotted Match of the Day following Gary Lineker’s fallout with the BBC
BBC bosses decided to take the 62-year-old off air on Friday, after he posted a Tweet criticising the UK government's immigration policy.
But in solidarity for their colleague, both Wright and Shearer announced on Friday night that they would not be appearing on Match of the Day on Saturday.
Wright tweeted: 'Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I've told the BBC I won't be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.'
Shearer followed, writing: 'I have informed the BBC that I won't be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.'
But they weren't the only two to boycott the BBC, as Alex Scott also said that she too would not be appearing on Football Focus which alongside Final Score was not broadcast.
Gary Lineker was spotted at the King Power stadium yesterday as his former side Leicester suffered a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/12/16/68607643-11850709-image-a-14_1678637122516.jpg)
![Ian Wright and Alan Shearer both announced they would not appear on MOTD on Friday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/12/16/68607645-11850709-image-a-15_1678637125645.jpg)
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer both announced they would not appear on MOTD on Friday
![Gary Lineker was at the King Power Stadium yesterday for Leicester's 3-1 defeat by Chelsea](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/12/16/68607717-11850709-image-a-16_1678637376549.jpg)
Gary Lineker was at the King Power Stadium yesterday for Leicester's 3-1 defeat by Chelsea
Match of the Day viewing figures were up by 500,000 people on Saturday with 2.58m viewers tuning in to watch the broadcast.
But it looks as though the BBC are set to allow Lineker back on air to present the show, following an extraordinary week at the broadcast corporation, as Director General Tim Davie appeared to back down yesterday.
He said to the BBC: ‘We are working very hard to resolve the situation and make sure we get output back on air.
‘I don’t want to go into too much details about the discussion. Gary Lineker is a superb broadcaster, the best in the business, that’s not in debate. He is an outstanding broadcaster and success for me is Gary gets back on air.'
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