Former England football captain Gary Lineker is set to leave his role presenting the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day highlights show at the end of the season, according to BBC News. The 63-year-old has hosted the Saturday night program since 1999.
Lineker’s departure comes after a series of controversies surrounding his political views. In March 2023, he was briefly taken off air after comparing the language used to launch a British government asylum policy to the rhetoric of Nazi-era Germany on social media. This sparked a row about BBC presenters expressing political opinions.
In solidarity with Lineker, several fellow presenters and pundits, including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, refused to appear on the program, resulting in an episode being reduced to 20 minutes and airing without its host, pundits, and commentary. Lineker was reinstated just over a week later.
The former Leicester, Everton, Tottenham, and Barcelona forward has been an outspoken critic of government policies, particularly on immigration. He has also hosted refugees in his home.
The BBC launched an independent review of its social media guidelines, which recommended that high-profile presenters should be able to express views on political issues but should stop short of campaigning on party politics or for activist organizations.
Speculation about Lineker’s future had been mounting since an interview with BBC Breakfast in August, in which he said he looked forward to “another year doing it, at least.” Last week, Lineker admitted he would “have to slow down at some point” and hinted to Esquire magazine that he may seek to focus full-time on his successful podcast business.
Lineker topped the BBC’s pay list in the 2023-24 financial year, earning more than £1.35 million ($1.74 million). In August 2016, he made good on an earlier promise to present the show in his underpants after his boyhood club Leicester won the Premier League.
