Gary Lineker has hit out at his former employer, stating that the BBC is “bowing to pressure from the top”.
The former Match of the Day host, who quit the corporation after 28 years earlier this year, attended a screening of the highly anticipated documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack in London on Thursday (3 July).
A synopsis for the film states that it “examines allegations that Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals and healthcare workers during the Gaza conflict in breach of international law”. Israel denies this claim.
Produced by Basement Films and commissioned by the BBC, the documentary was later pulled by the corporation over impartiality concerns. The decision prompted an outcry from the public, with British director Mike Leigh and Susan Sarandon among the 600 public figures who demanded the documentary’s release.
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack eventually found a home on Channel 4, where it aired on Wednesday (2 July). The rights were also acquired by Zeteo, who released the film globally on the same day.
“One of the most important films I’ve ever seen, certainly the most moving. I might need a minute here,” said Lineker in footage shared on social media that appeared to show the presenter tearing up during a panel appearance.
“It needed to be seen. It really did need to be seen. I think everyone would agree with that,” he continued. “I think the BBC should hold its head in shame. I’ve worked for the corporation for 30 years; to see the way it’s declined in the last year or two has been devastating really. I’ve defended it and defended it against claims that it is partial.”
Lineker added: “It talks about impartiality all the time. The truth is at the moment, at the very top of the BBC, not the BBC all over, because as you know there are thousands and thousands of people who work at the BBC that are good people that understand what is going on here and can see it.
“We’re seeing it on our phones everyday. The problem is they’re bowing to pressure from the top and this is a worry. I think the time is coming where a lot of people are going to be answerable to this and complicity is something that will come to many.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
In a statement issued on 20 June, the BBC explained its decision to not air the movie. “For some weeks, the BBC has been working with Basement Films to find a way to tell the stories of these doctors on our platforms,” it said.
“Yesterday, it became apparent that we have reached the end of the road with these discussions. We have come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality that would not meet the high standards that the public rightly expect of the BBC.”
Channel 4’s head of news, current affairs and specialist factual and sport, Louis Compton, later green-lit the project, stating the film “offers powerful evidence that the doctors, nurses and paramedics of Gaza have been denied the non-combatant protection that the norms of warfare usually offer them”.
Compton added: “But while we would never judge anyone who decides that showing something could create a risk of being thought to be taking sides, we believe there are times when the same risk is run by not showing anything at all.”
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack is now available to watch on Channel 4.
