Gary Lineker has said the BBC should “hold its head in shame” over its decision to drop a documentary about doctors working in Gaza.
This week, Gaza: Doctors Under Attack was aired by Channel 4 after the BBC pulled the documentary from its schedule.
Speaking at a private viewing of the documentary in London on Thursday night, Lineker condemned his former employer for its decision to drop the programme.
Visibly emotional, Lineker said people at “the very top of the BBC” had failed in the broadcaster’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza.
In a question and answer session with the documentary’s producers after the screening, Lineker said: “It needed to be seen, it really did need to be seen – I think everyone would agree with that. I think the BBC should hold its head in shame.
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“As someone who’s worked for the corporation for 30 years, to see the way it’s declined in the last year or two has been devastating really, because I’ve defended it and defended it against claims that it’s partial. It talks about impartiality all the time.
“The truth is at the moment, [there is a problem] at the very top of the BBC. Not [all] the BBC because there are thousands and thousands of people that work at the BBC, that are good people, that understand what is going on here and can see it. We see it on our phones every day.
“The problem is they’re bowing to the pressure from the top. This is a worry and I think time’s coming where a lot of people are going to be answerable to this, and complicity is something that will come to many.”
‘Doctors Under Attack’, was produced by Basement Films, and is the third film the company has made about the current conflict in Gaza. They have labelled it ‘the most difficult.’