The BBC has broken its own rules with a 20-minute-long Premier League Highlights episode which aired on Saturday (11 March) evening in the absence of Match of the Day.
The broadcasting company opted to change its Saturday edition of Match of the Day following Gary Linker's suspension over an impartiality row.
Match of the Day regulars, Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, were also no-shows on the segment in a show of solidarity with their fellow commentator.
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Before the opening titles commenced, a BBC announcer said: "Now on BBC One we’re sorry we’re not able to show our normal Match of the Day including commentary tonight, but here’s the best action from today’s Premier League matches."
The segment went straight into showing the highlights from Saturday’s match between Bournemouth and Liverpool with no opening theme music to be heard at all.
All that can be heard is the sounds of fans cheering for just 20 minutes when the programme is usually scheduled to last a full hour. This comes after a huge boycott from the show's top stars alongside many fans vowing to follow suit also standing in solidarity with Lineker.
According to the BBC's official website, the accessibility guidelines outline a range of 'alternative formats' for audio and visual content.
The page reads: "Alternative formats, such as subtitles, sign language, audio description and transcripts, must be provided with embedded media when available."
It explains that for those who are visually or audibly impaired, having an 'alternative delivery' in addition to the media that can be perceived 'supports comprehension'.
Such alternative deliveries include; subtitles that 'must be provided where feasible', audio described or sign language that 'must be provided if they were included with an original broadcast' and transcripts that 'can be provided for all types of audio and visual content'.
However, none of these rules seemed to be followed in Saturday's Premier League Highlights segment.
The news has since sparked outrage online with many calling out the BBC for how they handled the situation.
One Twitter posted: "As a blind person, I’m actually disgusted at the BBC has put out this programming without any commentary! It is a new low for them."
"Must be brilliant for those in need of audio description," another pointed out.
A third added: "20 minutes of crowd noise with no context or indication of which game was being shown. The visually impaired and blind must have been really confused."
A final Twitter user called the whole ordeal 'complete shambles'.
Lineker’s suspension from the show, which he has hosted since 1999, will go on for an undetermined amount of time until both he and the BBC can come to an agreement about his social media presence.
LADbible has reached out to the BBC for comment.
Topics: BBC, Football, Gary Lineker, Sport, UK News, TV and Film
Rhiannon Ingle