The match of the day descended into a meltdown when the hosts staged a mutiny after the BBC pulled Gary Lineker off the air over a Nazi tweet series

MATCH of the Day presenters staged a mutiny tonight after the BBC ripped Gary Lineker off the air over the Nazi tweet series – throwing the flagship show into chaos.

Ian Wright and Alan Shearer walked out of “solidarity” with Lineker, 62, who had compared the government’s language about crackdown on small boats to the language of 1930s Germany.

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The BBC had to struggle to find a panel for the show as other stars self-excluded.

Gary cried when told how his buddies had publicly supported him.

In a day of chaos, the company claimed its star, who has an annual salary of £1.3million, has agreed to step down from presenting tonight’s flagship highlights show.

But friends said Lineker was caught off guard by the statement and benched against his will.

Match of the Day 2 host Mark Chapman was left as the favorite.

The Beeb couldn’t say when ex-England ace Lineker will return.

Tonight there seemed to be no going back for the star on the BBC.

He was ordered to issue a “humiliating apology” from executives or be “rested” from the show.

A source said: “It’s been a turbulent 24 hours. Gary is in shock and had no idea this was coming. He wanted to go on the air, make no secret of it, it wasn’t his decision.

“Privately, everyone in the Beeb is also in a crisis. They really don’t know how to put out a show because nobody wants to touch them.

“Everyone in the industry is appalled at the way Gary was hung out to dry and at the BBC’s general dissension.

“Gary cried when he found out his buddies had all publicly supported him.

“The support has been overwhelming, which is basically a giant pie in the face for the BBC.

“Gary was unwilling to pretend to support something he vehemently disagrees with.

“He doesn’t need the money and frankly it seems hard for either side to see a way back from here.”

The ex-striker had compared the language surrounding government crackdowns on small boats to the language used by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The BBC initially said Lineker was being approached but then appeared to take no action against him.

This sparked a backlash from Tory MPs who were furious at an alleged breach of the BBC’s impartiality rules.

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Yesterday afternoon the BBC released its botched statement that Lineker had resigned from presenting the MoTD.

Pal Wright then tweeted that he was stepping down, saying: “Everyone knows what Match of the Day means to me but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.”

Shearer soon followed, saying, “I have informed the BBC that I will not be appearing on MoTD.”

And Football Focus host Alex Scott appeared to be self-excluded, posting a meme that read, “Nah, not me.”

Piers Morgan said of the Beeb last night: “It’s a ridiculous decision. If the BBC truly believes that their presenters should not have political opinions then I look forward to them suspending David Attenborough and Alan Sugar and everyone else who has presented BBC shows but made their views public.”

Broadcasters Jeff Stelling and Laura Woods also supported Lineker.

Earlier, the BBC said in its statement: “We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be in breach of our policies. The BBC has decided that he will step down from presenting MoTD until we have an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

“We never said that Gary should be in a no-opinion zone or that he can’t have an opinion on issues that are important to him, but we did say that he should stay away from taking sides on any political issue or political controversy. “

A TV insider added: “This is typical of the BBC being unable to deal with a crisis affecting itself – they are almost imploding in confusion as to what to do. They have not disciplined him and informed the media that he will not resign, but have now decided to take him off the air to review their own policies. It’s all a bit confusing.

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“No wonder no one knows what to say and what not to say.”

Lineker seemed to have ridden out of line until yesterday, having tweeted: “Well it’s been an interesting couple of days. I’m pleased that this ridiculously disproportionate story seems to be winding down and I’m really looking forward to presenting Match of the Day on Saturday.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he hoped critics like Lineker would eventually see why they were wrong about his immigration plan.

Ex-Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said: “Gary is of course entitled to express his views.

“The problem is that he is the BBC’s highest-paid employee and has close ties to the BBC. I’m afraid these things are not compatible.”