Last week, Lineker, who turns 64 at the end of the month, told Esquire magazine that he would have to “slow down at some point” and hinted that he might look to focus full time on his successful podcast business. According to the English press, however, he should continue to appear on the BBC until the 2026 World Cup.
His departure should be officially announced this Tuesday by the BBC, according to the English press, which mentions his weariness without making a link, however, with his temporary suspension from the air in March 2023.
Lineker was then temporarily suspended after criticizing on his X account a Conservative government bill aimed at preventing illegally arriving migrants from seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, a project criticized even at the UN.
The former player, who himself welcomed refugees, denounced “a cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable, in language which is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s”.
His dismissal caused an uproar: several football broadcast consultants, such as former England internationals Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, withdrew from their programs in “solidarity” and Lineker was eventually reinstated a week later .
These comments were strongly criticized by the government and right-wing newspapers, and relaunched the debate around political impartiality in force on the BBC.
Since the incident, the BBC has revised its social media rules for its employees and allows its most famous presenters to express opinions on political issues, but not to campaign for political parties or organizations activists.
