Ian Wright has threatened to leave the BBC and quit Match of the Day permanently unless Gary Lineker is reinstated as host of the programme.
Lineker has been suspended from presenting duties indefinitely amid an ongoing impartiality row with the BBC.
The former England striker criticised the UK government’s new policy on asylum seekers earlier this week and has allegedly refused to apologise for his comments.
Wright, along with other Match of the Day pundits, presenters and commentators, have all shown solidarity with Lineker and refused to take part in this weekend’s show.
And with a severe lack of willing replacements to host the programme, BBC have now decided that Match of the Day will solely “focus on match action.”
Wright tweeted his support for his friend and colleague on Friday evening but has now doubled down on his stance on his podcast Wrighty’s House.
Speaking on his podcast, the ex-Arsenal man stressed he was “gone” if Lineker was not allowed to present again.
“That is the distraction and let me tell you something, if the BBC do get rid of Gary Lineker I am out,” he said
“I am gone, I am not staying there. On his own platform, he should be able to say what he wants to say.
“Gary Lineker, he says stuff on everything and it’s almost like this one has missed everybody simply because he says so much but this is so right what he is saying. I have spoken to Gary, I am behind him.
“He wrote a tweet about everything that has been happening with the human rights issues and everything here and it’s the perfect distraction for this government. Gary’s tweet was the headline news, it’s like they need Gary Lineker to distract everybody. For me, it’s a human issue, it’s not political.”
He added: “They have got no empathy, the most vulnerable ones are always the ones that suffer. They are the ones that suffer and it starts with words. Gary Lineker, I think retweeted [something] from a German professor, but the Hitler thing is what they all jumped on and everything like that but he retweeted something saying that it all starts with language.
“It starts with words, they didn’t just start throwing people into concentration camps. It starts with words and language and what they are doing again is the culture war they want us to all have, left-versus-right: ‘Oh you’re woke, you’re woke’.”
Earlier on Saturday, Alex Scott confirmed she would not host Football Focus and shared a brilliant tweet emphasising she would not consider hosting Match of the Day.
Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards have also distanced themselves from the show and may decide to echo Wright’s latest ultimatum.
