BBC pundit Ian Dennis is abused by fans branding him a ‘scab’ after providing solo Radio 5 Live coverage amid Gary Lineker boycott
- Ian Dennis continued working for 5 Live but said he had ‘found it very difficult’
- Faced backlash from some Twitter users amid row over colleague Gary Lineker
Senior BBC football reporter Ian Dennis was abused on social media after saying live on air that he felt obliged to keep working amid the row over Gary Lineker.
Mr Dennis, who has worked for Radio 5 Live since 2002, admitted before his solo commentary at Leeds United on Saturday that it he had ‘found it very difficult’.
But he said he was ‘a BBC staff member, I’m a radio commentator for BBC 5 Live and today, like every Saturday afternoon, we provide a service to you, the audience’.
However, Mr Dennis faced a backlash from some Twitter users as he was called a ‘scab’ in several tweets, with post one saying that he ‘chose to betray his colleagues’.
Another anonymous user said: ‘Please do not try and come up with excuses, you simply are someone who is not loyal to your profession and just a scab.’
BBC Radio 5 Live commentator Ian Dennis, who said he felt obliged to work on Saturday
The BBC’s Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker leaves his home in London this morning
Mr Dennis did though find support from fellow 5 Live reporter Vicki Sparks who tweeted: ‘Enough. Ian is a brilliant broadcaster, a great friend, and he absolutely does not deserve the vitriol that has been levelled at him by some on here. End. Of.’
READ MORE – Fury at BBC for humiliating climbdown as Gary Lineker wins Twitter row
Mr Dennis then tweeted the following day, having turned off replies: ‘As a BBC staff member and a radio commentator for BBC 5 Live thank you for the messages of support, you know who you are. @5liveSport will have details of future commentaries.’
Chris Sutton, who is a pundit for the BBC and columnist for Sportsmail, wrote in today’s newspaper: ‘Many football fans will have been really disappointed with the reduced coverage. The brilliant Ian Dennis, who went ahead with covering Leeds v Brighton on 5 Live on Saturday, summed it up best on air.
‘He said he is a commentator and felt it was important to provide a service to the 5 Live audience. And that’s where I stand.’
Dennis, who is a BBC employee, covered Leeds United’s match against Brighton for Radio 5 Live on Saturday.
Ahead of his commentary, he said: ‘It’s also a very difficult time for BBC Sport, and for those that work in the department. We all hope that that gets resolved.
‘Personally, I found today very difficult. But I’m a BBC staff member, I’m a radio commentator for BBC Radio 5 Live – and today, like every Saturday afternoon, we provide a service to you, the audience.’
BBC sources told the Times that ‘this was not a decision Dennis took lightly’, adding that other commentators at Radio 5 had also been targeted.
Today, it was confirmed that Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker will continue as a BBC presenter after the corporation apologised for a ‘difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters, and most importantly, our audiences’.
A host of sports presenters and pundits pulled out of BBC shows at the weekend after the former England striker was told to step back from hosting the show in a row over impartiality.
The 62-year-old was taken off air for a tweet comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.
BBC Director-General Tim Davie confirmed Lineker will continue as the host of Match Of The Day, saying: ‘Everyone recognises this has been a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences. I apologise for this.
‘The potential confusion caused by the grey areas of the BBC’s social media guidance that was introduced in 2020 is recognised. I want to get matters resolved and our sport content back on air.’
In a statement issued on Twitter, Lineker described the past few days as ‘surreal’, and thanked his fellow BBC Sport colleagues for their ‘remarkable show of solidarity’.
Ian Dennis, pictured in February 2017, has worked for BBC Radio 5 Live since 2002
He also appeared to address the issue of migration again, saying his difficult weekend ‘doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away’.
Football coverage on BBC TV and radio shows was hit across the weekend as fellow pundits, presenters and reporters – including Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Alex Scott – walked out in ‘solidarity’ with Lineker.
Match Of The Day aired for only 20 minutes on Saturday without accompanying commentary or analysis from presenters, with Sunday’s edition following a similar format and running for a reduced 15 minutes.
Coverage of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United aired without a pre-match presentation on Sunday, and Radio 5 Live replaced much of its usual live sports coverage over the weekend with pre-recorded content.
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