Match of the Day host Gary Lineker anticipated to depart the BBC

Gary Lineker is about to depart the BBC with an announcement anticipated on Monday.

Hypothesis is mounting the 64-year-old will step down after he presents his ultimate Match of the Day subsequent weekend.

Lineker, listed because the highest-paid BBC presenter, had been attributable to stay on the forefront of the BBC’s protection of subsequent season’s FA Cup and the World Cup in 2026, regardless of beforehand saying he’ll depart Match of the Day on the finish of this season.

However final week he needed to apologise after sharing a social media publish about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat, traditionally used as an antisemitic insult.

Lineker stated he very a lot regretted the references, including he would by no means knowingly share something antisemitic and that he had deleted the publish as soon as he had discovered concerning the symbolism of the picture.

Final week, BBC Director Common Tim Davie stated: “The BBC’s fame is held by everybody, and when somebody makes a mistake, it prices us.”

It’s understood that BBC bosses thought-about Lineker’s place untenable.

The previous England striker has attracted criticism earlier than for his posts on social media previously.

He was quickly suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over a publish through which he stated language used to advertise a authorities asylum coverage was “not dissimilar to that utilized by Germany within the 30s”.

The BBC’s social media guidelines have been then rewritten to say presenters of flagship programmes outdoors information and present affairs – together with Match of the Day – have “a selected duty to respect the BBC’s impartiality, due to their profile on the BBC”.

In November 2024, Lineker introduced his departure from Match of the Day, however stated he would stay with the BBC to entrance FA Cup and World Cup protection.

In an interview earlier this 12 months about leaving, Lineker stated he believed the BBC needed him to depart Match of the Day as he was negotiating a brand new contract final 12 months, saying: “Nicely, maybe they need me to depart. There was the sense of that.”

The BBC did not touch upon Lineker’s suggestion on the time however known as him a “world-class presenter” and added that Match of the Day “frequently evolves for altering viewing habits”.

Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan have been introduced as new presenters of the present for the beginning of the 2025-26 season.

Lineker has not publicly commented on his departure from the BBC.

In his interview final month, Lineker additionally mirrored on his 2023 tweets, saying that he didn’t remorse the feedback and including “would I, in hindsight, do it once more? No I would not, due to all of the nonsense that got here with it.”

Chatting with the BBC’s Amol Rajan, he indicated his subsequent profession transfer “will not be extra telly”, including: “I feel I will step again from that now” and .I feel I will in all probability focus extra on the podcast world”.

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