Gary Lineker clashed with colleagues at the BBC after the high-profile Match of the Day presenter caused controversy with his activity on social media.
The BBC announced on Tuesday that Lineker would be leaving his role as presenter of the nation's flagship football highlights show, which he has held since 1999.
This campaign will be his last on MOTD, as Lineker is set to take a substantial pay cut and dramatically slash his TV duties as part of a newly-agreed 18-month contract extension. While Lineker won't be leaving TV screens until after the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup, there will be some at the BBC who may feel his departure is the best course of action.
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The headline-hitting events that unfolded in March last year, in which MOTD was reduced to a short highlights package after Lineker's suspension sparked a boycott, highlighted his polarising influence.
Lineker's post on X (formerly Twitter) in March 2023, in which he compared the language used in the Government’s immigration bill to that of Nazi Germany, resulted in the BBC suspending him and taking the football icon off the air.
But after dozens of colleagues threatened to boycott their duties working on MOTD and other BBC media services, he was reinstated days later as Britain's central broadcaster backed down.
Their new rules for social media posts were aimed at clamping down on political opinions, when they are supposed to be impartial. Despite his evident popularity, not everyone agreed with Lineker's point of view being shared as it violated their impartiality rules.
In 2018, he wrote that Brexit was “going very wrong indeed”, before adding: “Imagine how hopeless you’d have to be to still be behind the Tory party in the polls. The absolute state of our politics.”
His tweet drew criticism from cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew, who wrote: “Gary. You are the face of BBC Sport. Please observe BBC editorial guidelines and keep your political views, whatever they are and whatever the subject, to yourself. I’d be sacked if I followed your example. Thanks.”
Jonathan, I’m the face of my own Twitter account. I’ll continue to tweet what I like and if folk disagree with me then so be it. Thank you so much for your concern, which, I imagine, wouldn’t be a concern at all if you agreed with me.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 13, 2018
According to The Telegraph, Agnew’s frustrations were 'shared by other colleagues'. Lineker responded with a defiant stance, replying: “Jonathan, I’m the face of my own Twitter account. I’ll continue to tweet what I like and if folk disagree with me so be it.”
The 63-year-old was later lambasted by senior BBC journalist Neil Henderson, when he took aim at the Tories for voting down proposed restrictions on sewage spills, who said: “The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can’t abide it, get off it.”
Ironically, Henderson was forced to apologise to Lineker and delete the post for failing to adhere to the BBC rule which states users are not meant to criticise their colleagues.
But it showed that Lineker, for all of his commendable efforts to ensure MOTD retains its place in sports broadcasting, may not be as popular with figures inside the BBC as he is with the public.
