I know this is slightly OT but AFAIK there isn't really a better thread within this forum for this (but Yos if you wanna re/move this feel free)... As I was taking the train to Gatwick on Friday I picked up a free copy of Metro and read about this little bruhaha between Gary Lineker and the BBC, over some arguably insensitive comments he made, critical of the current government's migrant/refugee policy. I thought to myself: yeah this seems like a tempest in a teacup, it'll blow over. Apparently not? Fast forward to this morning and there's a front page article in the NYTimes about the issue, and how it blew up into not only a suspension for him over the weekend, but a boycott by his colleagues at the Beeb, and the gutting of their beloved MOTD programming this past weekend. Wow. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/12/world/europe/gary-lineker-bbc.html There's obviously a bigger, thornier picture here about the BBC and free speech in general, but given the money and prestige that's involved around MOTD and their sport coverage in general, I gotta figure it'll be settled somehow before next weekend. But I was wrong on Friday so who knows. Edit: Well, that was quick! I just discovered that they've already come to terms and Lineker is back in the chair effective immediately?
It seems that the BBC’s Gary Lineker decision is not the only thing the BBC is caving to the political right wing about. Being an Ocean and Continent removed from England I’d like to know if this is a trend. https://apple.news/A8MT4GoSxTJeQzkDSFIHW_g
The Conservatives are doing that thing that conservatives tend to do, which is run a public entity (in this case, the BBC, also applies to the NHS) so poorly that privatizing it becomes the only solution. They're polling at 25% to Labour's 50% for the next general election for a good reason.
It's incredible to me that we have the actual evidence that Barca was paying the refs, and football is studiously ignoring the implications of that
To me the implications are 1. if one team is paying the refs, surely other teams have the same idea 2. If one league is paying the refs surely other leagues have the same idea 3. some of the incomprehensible decisions are surely due to corruption
Well, since many of the incomprehensible decisions go against Arsenal, at least we know Arsenal aren’t paying the refs, or at least they aren’t paying the refs as much as their opponents are.
The funniest thing about the BBC/Lineker stuff is that the show without hosts did massive numbers, and the people calling Lineker "woke" are suggesting they continue without hosts not realising I know a lot of people who tuned in as a one off for the gimmick of it not having hosts. They aren't watching it every week.
I had to catch it on the replay. I mean, we’ve all seen the penalty given for less than that, right? And that’s my point, I’m glad it wasn’t given for United too, but really we shouldn’t care about two points for an irrelevant United team and we should be asking that the rule is applied consistently. I’ve seen plenty of calls given for lesser offenses than the three from our Bournemouth match, including the one Salah put in the stands.
They also play Brighton away soon and then Chelsea a few games later .. Even a desperate Everton away won’t be easy for them
Not knocking anything but it was easier for a pundit to pull this than say a commentator. Rumor had it another network were keen table an offer obviously way more than his BBC package. What I'm trying to say is that I hope the same solidarity comes through for others in the same predicament. Great win for anti-cancel culture
but you know ... what are we actually watching? or is corruption just so priced in that fans can just keep watching games were they know the refs are corrupt?
Fedposting but…I know someone with a big ol van… What’s wild about not just the Barca stuff, but the City and Juve stuff also, is how nakedly brazen it all is. I think it goes to show two things: corruption and criminality of this kind is endemic in the Western business world, just as much as Westerners think it is about places like Nigeria or China or wherever else. There simply can’t be any industries in our modern economy that are actually following the rules, especially given that 99% of those industries have less media exposure and even weaker administrative oversight than football. Second, it makes Jitty the king of I Told You So mountain. If Barca were doing shit that was as brazen as this, how the hell were they not also running doping schemes for all their midget midfielders? There’s just no way that they weren’t, given the club history, the Pep connections, the Spanish doping doctor connections, etc. PS. The Mbappe kick after the whistle last week immediately harkened back to the van Persie red card to me…and now it seems even more obvious that we were playing against a bent ref!
Any grey market will be exploited in sports, business etc. For example the template alleged in Turkey (and also with Conte in Italy) with club chairmen/owners trading games. Why would you not do this when it is not strictly against any laws? It's basically an informal system of favours, and becomes an additional way to compete. Of course they were. Everyone is. You only have to look at the story of Team Sky / Froome for 5 seconds to understand how it works That RvP red was an obvious fix IMO
Yeah that political interference with Attenborough's show was also mentioned in the NYTimes pieces. Transparently pathetic, seems to me.
A key point in all of this is that Lineker was a contractor not an employee. I guess if he'd been the latter, the BBC would've been in an even bigger bind, without as much leeway to make such a quick settlement?
End of the day Screw all policy that the tories build on immigration. Ironically, the current and previous foreign secretaries have both been descendants of immigrants which makes it all very stupid