Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is being summoned to appear before a BBC disciplinary panel that will decide his fate.
The panel will be chaired by Ken MacQuarrie, the head of BBC Scotland who conducted the investigation into Newsnight's false expose of Lord McAlpine.
A formal letter requesting Clarkson to attend the hearing was expected to be posted on Thursday, with witnesses being called by the end of the week.
The corporation has not revealed when or where the hearing will take place.
Clarkson has been suspended after allegedly punching Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon at the end of a day's filming in Newcastle.
According to reports, he lashed out because he was unable to order a steak at the Simonstone Hall Hotel near Hawes, North Yorkshire, where the production team were staying.
The Sun and Daily Mirror said the hotel's chef had gone home by the time they arrived and they were only offered cold meat platters, although Clarkson had ordered a steak.
The papers quoted a source who claimed Clarkson blamed Mr Tymon for not arranging hot food and said there had been a "scuffle".
A spokesman for the hotel confirmed Clarkson was there for three days, adding: "There's been some pretty accurate reporting of what happened."
A BBC spokeswoman described the incident as a "fracas" and said no-one else had been suspended.
More than 650,000 people from across the world have signed an online petition demanding that Clarkson be reinstated.
Support has also come from British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he was a "huge talent".
Clarkson (54) lives in his Witney constituency in Oxfordshire and is a friend.
Mr Cameron told BBC Midlands Today: "I don't know exactly what happened. He is a constituent of mine, he is a friend of mine, he is a huge talent."
"I hope this can be sorted out because (Top Gear) is a great programme and he is a great talent."
On Wednesday, Clarkson joked about his suspension as he left his flat in Kensington, telling the media scrum he was "just off to the job centre".
He added: "At least I'm going to be able to get to the Chelsea match tonight."
He was later photographed in the crowd at Stamford Bridge watching the Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain.
It is understood Clarkson and his fellow Top Gear hosts James May and Richard Hammond were about to sign new three-year contracts.
Their present deal runs out this month, leaving Clarkson free to work for another broadcaster if he chooses.
The hotel "fracas" is the latest in a series of controversies which has seen him offend foreign diplomats, viewers, MPs and his own bosses at the BBC.
Clarkson was put on what was called his final warning last year after claims he used the N-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe during filming of the BBC2 programme.
