2 weeks Ago By The Telegraph
Gary Lineker has said he believes the BBC forced him to leave Match of the Day . The presenter said “there was a sense” that corporation bosses wanted to get rid of him as he negotiated a new contract last year. Lineker also dismissed the row over his controversial social media posts as a “ridiculous overreaction”, but admitted in hindsight he wouldn’t compare the government’s asylum policy to Nazi Germany again.
Asked why he was leaving while the show’s rating was still high, he told the BBC’s Amol Rajan: “Well, perhaps they want me to leave. There was a sense of that.” He said he had “always wanted” one more contract, but added: “I think it was their preference that I didn’t do Match of the Day for one more year so they can bring in new people .
” Hosting duties of the new-look show will be shared by Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates from the start of next season. Lineker said the arrangement, which will see him remain the host of the BBC’s FA Cup and World Cup coverage next year, was “slightly unusual”. He added: “In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new rights period, it was a chance to change the programme .
“But to be honest, it’s a scenario that suits me perfectly.” Lineker was the BBC’s highest-paid staff member on £1.35 million a year under his existing contract.
His podcast company, Goalhanger, produces some of the most popular podcasts in the UK including The Rest is Football and The Rest is Politics. The hosts of The Rest is History, historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, are making almost £1m each a year from their show. But during his time at the BBC, Lineker often found himself at the centre of controversy following comments made on social media.
In 2023, he was forced to step down from presenting duties after refusing to apologise for posting a tweet drawing parallels between the former Government’s policy on illegal migrants and the language of Nazi Germany. Other presenters and pundits boycotted the show in solidarity until Lineker was reinstated – something he said he felt “moved” by. Reflecting on the tweets, he said: “I don’t regret saying them publicly, because I was right – what I said, it was accurate – so not at all in that sense.
“Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No, I wouldn’t, because of all the nonsense that came with it. It was a ridiculous overreaction that was just a reply to someone who was being very rude. And I wasn’t particularly rude back.
” “I love the BBC, and I didn’t like the damage that it did to the BBC – but do I regret it, and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No.” The post reignited the debate about the BBC’s impartiality guidance on social media and how it applied to presenters. More recently, he criticised the corporation for pulling its controversial Gaza documentary .
He was among 500 television industry figures who signed a letter accusing the corporation of bowing to “censorship” and racism. The BBC removed the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from iPlayer after it emerged that it had prominently featured the son of a Hamas minister. Lineker told Rajan he would “100 per cent” support the documentary’s re-release.
“I think you let people make their own minds up,” he said. “We’re adults. We’re allowed to see things like that.
It’s incredibly moving. “I think [the BBC] just capitulated to lobbying that they get a lot.” Elsewhere, Lineker ruled himself out of getting involved in politics and said he would be focusing on his lucrative The Rest Is Football podcast – hosted alongside Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards – which will also now feature on BBC Sounds as part of the new agreement.
The BBC was approached for comment..
