After 25 years of good and loyal service, Gary Lineker will stop the show “Match of The Day” at the end of the season.
Former England international Gary Lineker will leave the presentation of “Match of The Day”, the very popular BBC football show, at the end of the season, the British press reported on Monday, a year after his temporary suspension from the air for criticizing the Conservative government. After shining under the colors of Leicester and FC Barcelona, the former captain of the Three Lions took over the show in 1999. Last week, Lineker, who will celebrate his 64th birthday 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 evokes his weariness without making a link, however, with his temporary suspension from the antenna in March 2023. Lineker was then temporarily laid off after having criticized on his account The former player, who himself welcomed refugees, denounced “a cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable, in language that 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.
