Just ONE pundit is left wearing Black Lives Matter badge for Premier League coverage on Sunday after BBC ban as former England striker Emile Heskey sports his on Sky
- Emile Heskey was the only pundit wearing a Black Lives Matter badge on Sunday
- The BBC has banned usage of the symbol to avoid endorsing any movement
- Sky Sports has allowed its pundits to make their own decision over the usage
Emile Heskey was the only pundit remaining wearing a Black Lives Matter badge for Premier League coverage across television on Sunday.
The BBC has banned pundits and guests from wearing BLM badges following a row over the movement’s ideology.
So Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards were unable to display any message during their coverage of Manchester City versus Southampton.
Emile Heskey was the only one with a Black Lives Matter badge during Sunday’s football on TV
The BBC has banned its hosts and guests from wearing the branding on television
A senior source at the corporation told the Daily Telegraph that bosses decided they did not want ‘visual symbols of support’ for BLM to be worn on screen as it cannot be seen to be endorsing any political movement.
Question marks were raised after a series of tweets was released by BLM which had criticised Israel and also called on the UK government to ‘defund the police’.
Premier League chiefs are not expected to ditch the BLM badge on shirts after making the distinction between the actual cause and the group itself.
The top flight has said that it recognises ‘the importance of the message that black lives matter’, without referring to the organisation’s name in upper case.
Sky Sports has allowed its pundits to make their own decision about wearing the badges
A senior BBC source told the Daily Telegraph that bosses did not want want the symbol shown
Meanwhile, Sky has allowed pundits to make their own decisions over whether to wear the emblems, but only Emile Heskey opted to display the message for Sunday’s games.
That left fellow pundit Graeme Souness without the badge during Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa and the draw between Newcastle and West Ham.
It followed the decision by Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling along with experts Clinton Morrison, Paul Merson and Matt Le Tissier to support anti-racism charity Kick It Out instead.
Professional players have been kneeling in support of the anti-racist movement before games
Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Savage and Steve Sidwell wore BLM badges on BT Sport on Saturday
On the other hand, during BT Sport’s broadcast of Norwich’s clash against Brighton on Saturday, every guest was wearing a BLM badge.
Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Savage and Steve Sidwell joined Jake Humphrey for the programme and supported the BLM movement in a stark contrast to their peers on Sky Sports.
During the first round of games after the Premier League restarted, players wore the Black Lives Matter slogan on the back of their shirts in place of their names.
Players have also been taking a knee before games to show solidarity with the movement, and some still wear patches on their sleeves after George Floyd’s death in May.