Match of the Day ‘should include less football, more analysis’, BBC’s chairman sensationally says

Match of the Day should feature less match footage and more analysis from presenters, the BBC’s chairman has said.

Samir Shah said he wanted to see more detailed examination of games that would give viewers a ‘deeper insight’. 

But others have disagreed with Mr Shah’s own analysis that the vast majority of the programme’s viewers have already watched the games before tuning in. 

Former manager Harry Redknapp, 78, said people still watch the 61-year-old programme for the highlights, rather than to listen to a ‘talk show’.

Match of the Day is set for a major change this summer when its longstanding host Gary Lineker stands aside after a 26-year-stint on the show.

He is to be replaced by Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan. 

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Shah, 73, also said the BBC is full of ‘metropolitan liberals’ and should take on more ‘working class northerners’, its chairman has said.

He said that the Corporation had not done enough to show it was in touch with the concerns of working people, including on migration and pressures on housing and public services.

The Indian-born executive said in an interview that the broadcaster was ignoring the concerns of working people including on migration and pressures on housing and public services, because its journalists are mainly from ‘metropolitan liberal’ backgrounds with ‘centre left’ political views

Gary Lineker (pictured) will step down from Match of the Day this summer. Mr Shah said he wanted to see more in-depth analysis on the programme and less match highlights

He acknowledged that the recent fallout over the Gaza documentary had dented trust in the national broadcaster, which he said lacked a ‘diversity of thought’.

Mr Shah, who replaced Richard Sharp at the helm a year ago, took aim at the high number of arts graduates employed at the BBC, whom he said tended to have ‘centre left’ political views.

To better reflect the nation as a whole, the Corporation should hire more people from the ‘Northern working class, where we’re poor’, he told the Sunday Times.

He said: ‘We have people in various parts of the country who really object to having a whole lot of migrants coming in. It is our job to hear their point of view. Not to say: “Oh, I don’t like those views.”‘

The chairman’s comments come after a row was triggered last month over the £400,000 documentary, Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, which was narrated by 13-year-old Abdulla Eliyazouri, the son of a Hamas official.

‘People have to face the consequences’, said Mr Shah, adding that there needed to be ‘greater accountability’ within the organisation.

While apologising for ‘flaws in decision making’, BBC director-general Tim Davie declined to rule out airing the film on iPlayer in the future, after it was pulled from the on-demand service, subject to edits being made.

A row was triggered after it emerged that Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was narrated by the son of Hamas official Ayman Alyazouri

He added that ‘forensic analysis’ would be carried out on the documentary, for which the BBC had received more than 500 complaints that it was biased against Israel. Another 1,800 viewers called for the programme to be reinstated on iPlayer.

The Corporation has also come under pressure to reveal whether any money paid to the young narrator’s family ended up in the hands of the terror organisation.

Despite the BBC’s shortcomings, Mr Shah insisted a golden opportunity has ‘fallen onto our laps’ in a market of ‘alternative facts’ and fake news.

But he called for more analysis through a business-lens rather than just coverage from a political perspective, which he said was a symptom of ‘Westminster bias’.

As well as criticism over the BBC’s coverage of Gaza, Mr Shah has overseen crises involving high profile stars who have been the subject of allegations of bullying and inappropriate behaviour.

In November, MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace was forced to step back from the show following claims he made inappropriate comments – allegations he continues to deny.

Mr Shah has overseen several rows involving BBC stars including Gregg Wallace, who stepped back from MasterChef last November following claims he made inappropriate comments

This added to previous controversies, including over the handling of the scandal involving star anchor Huw Edwards, who it emerged was unwilling to return the £200,000 salary he pocketed between his arrest and resignation last April.

Mr Shah vowed to introduce measures to protect junior staff, whom he said were vulnerable to being abused by people in positions of power, branding it ‘a cancer we need to cut out’.

‘I will not tolerate junior staff being scared to report what’s happening or their managers looking the other way’, he said. 

The Indian-born executive also hit out at BBC stars migrating to rival channels such as ITV and Sky. He said working for the Corporation is a ‘privilege’ but that nothing was preventing anchors moving if they thought they could net a higher salary elsewhere.