Ian Wright and Alan Shearer won’t appear on the show, in solidarity with Gary Lineker

Match of the Day will pivot to just showing the action on the pitch, with no presenter or pundits, following a decision by Ian Wright and Alan Shearer to not appear on the show, in support of presenter Gary Lineker.

Micah Richards and Alex Scott also confirmed they won’t be involved in this week’s broadcast. Late on Friday it was revealed that the Match of the Day commentators would also be boycotting tonight’s programme.

Lineker was told by the BBC he wasn’t allowed to present the show in response to language used in his tweet this week, comparing the language used to launch the Government’s migrant policy with 1930s Germany.

Saying Lineker’s social media activity was a breach of its guidelines, the BBC said he would have to “step back” from presenting duties.

The BBC said in a statement: “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.”