Gary Lineker has been inundated with messages of support from the world of British football and television since the BBC sacked him in a tweet. The Game of the Day broadcast, which Lineker usually hosts, lasted only twenty minutes on Saturday instead of the usual ninety minutes.

Regular guests on the program, such as former football legends Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, this time declined to join the program as they stood in solidarity with Lineker. Football broadcasts will also be much shorter than usual on Sundays, reported The Guardian.

The BBC decided to suspend Lineker after he took to Twitter this week to criticize the Conservative government’s draconian plans to keep refugees out. Conservatives want to quickly lock up and deport the boat people without giving them a chance to go through asylum procedures.

The former Leicester, Everton, Barcelona striker pointed out in his message that Britain accepts far fewer refugees than other European countries. He called the Conservative proposal “absolutely vicious”. He also compared the rhetoric about asylum seekers to language used in Germany in the 1930s to denigrate population groups.

The BBC believes that Lineker should not comment on politics, but has done nothing in recent years against other TV stars who have done the exact same thing. For example, Lord Alan Sugar of ‘The Apprentice’ was allowed to ask people to vote Conservative and post a tweet in which he praised Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn compared to Adolf Hitler.

Apart from football players and television employees, football fans also support Lineker. At the stadium, supporters held up signs on Saturday with texts such as “I agree with Gary”, “Migrants welcome” and “Gary Lineker to prime minister”.