A organisation that helps individuals who are blind has chastised the BBC for not including any commentary in its shorter Match of the Day.
The football show ran on Saturday, March 11, despite the fact that Gary Lineker was forced to leave after comparing the Home Office’s immigration policy to Nazi Germany.
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, the pundit’s colleagues, also boycotted MOTD, resulting in a 20-minute version of the show showing instead, with no presenter, commentators, or match commentary.
The Royal National Institute of Blind Persons blasted the broadcaster in a tweet for its lack of accessibility, after a blind content producer and disability advocate called Jurgen raised the matter.
‘I am so angry, it was bad enough what @BBCSport @BBCAccessAll did too @GaryLineker but to put on @BBCMOTD without any commentary is not just inaccessible, it is a breach of the equalities act! It shows how little they care for disabled viewers! #Accessibility #Disability #MOTD [sic],’ he wrote.
The charity reshared Jurgen’s tweet, while adding: ‘The BBC needs to do better.
‘We agree with Jurgen that their decision not to include commentary on Match of the Day is unacceptable.
‘The BBC should be upholding basic accessibility standards so that everyone can enjoy their output.
After the shorter format of Match of the Day, which aired on Sunday evening, the BBC revealed that Match of the Day 2, which broadcasts highlights of Sunday’s matches as well as a review of Saturday’s games, will also have a scaled-down version this weekend.
Mark Chapman was set to host the event on Sunday evening, but Jermain Defoe, a former Tottenham Hotspur and England player, declared that he would not be appearing in support of Lineker.
The BBC said ahead of Sunday’s Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United that there would be no presenter or experts, with commentary coming from a globe stream broadcast instead.
Despite the fact that Match of the Day was cut in half on Saturday, half a million more viewers tuned in than the previous week.
According to Barb’s overnight stats, the most recent programme drew 2.6 million viewers, while the previous week’s drew 2.1 million.
On Friday March 10, the BBC released a statement that read: ‘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 guidelines.
‘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.’