The Premier League has informed the 12 teams playing on Saturday that players and managers will not be asked to do interviews for Match of the Day. It comes after the BBC told host Gary Lineker to step back following his criticism of government asylum policy.
The show will air on Saturday night without a studio presenter, pundits or its regular commentators. A number of players from various clubs had suggested they wanted to boycott post-match interviews with the show. They had contacted the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) to say they may want to show solidarity with Lineker and the MOTD pundits.
Now the Premier League has told the PFA, League Managers Association (LMA) and the clubs not to expect requests to conduct post-match interviews for the programme. In a statement, the PFA said members had told them they wanted to take a “collective position” and “to be able to show their support”.
“During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments,” the statement said.
