When Gary Lineker plunged the BBC into one of its worst crises with his Nazi jibe about the then-Government, there was always the danger it would end up being his defining legacy.
By quitting Match of the Day but staying on as lead presenter of the corporation’s coverage of the next World Cup, Lineker will be desperately hoping the abiding memory of his time there will instead be one of England glory.
That is arguably the only moment that could trump the extraordinary events of March last year in which the BBC’s highest-paid presenter got its flagship football programme all but taken off air.
His post on X comparing the Government’s rhetoric about its immigration bill to that of those behind the Holocaust had appeared the final straw for an employer which had endured his social media outbursts for years before finally suspending him.
The fact that Lineker was back in the Match of the Day hot-seat days later amid an internal revolt over the action taken against him, and that new rules for flagship BBC presenters did little to clamp down on them expressing political opinions, merely reinforced that he had become a law unto himself.
Less than six months earlier, he had been formally reprimanded for accusing Liz Truss’s Government of taking money from Russian donors in what was deemed a breach of BBC impartiality guidelines.
Indeed, his posts had become increasingly inflammatory and anti-Conservative since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, with Lineker writing in 2018 that it felt like Brexit was “going very wrong indeed”.
He went on: “Imagine how hopeless you’d have to be to still be behind the Tory party in the polls. The absolute state of our politics.”
He was criticised by Jonathan Agnew, the BBC cricket correspondent, 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.”
Lineker retorted: “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.”
Agnew’s frustrations were shared by other colleagues and when Lineker posted criticism of the Tories’ voting down proposed restrictions on sewage spills by water firms, he was told off by a senior BBC journalist.
Neil Henderson wrote: “The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can’t abide it, get off it.”
But, once again, Lineker came out on top after Henderson was forced to apologise and delete the post under rules in which users are not meant to criticise colleagues.
Even after his suspension and only a fortnight before the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, Lineker endorsed a video by journalist Owen Jones in which an academic accused the country of “genocide” and dismissed comparisons between Hamas and the Nazis.
Lineker went on this year to share, then delete a pro-Palestinian post calling for Israel to be barred from football tournaments over its “grave violations of international law”. The presenter apparently misread the post and has subsequently said he continues to wade into political issues “so I can look at myself in the mirror at night”.
Lineker has even begun bringing this outspoken attitude into his football presenting, no more so than in The Rest is Football podcast he launched with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards months after his BBC suspension.
Part of the Goalhanger Podcasts stable thought to earn Lineker well in excess of his £1.35 million BBC salary, The Rest is Football dominated the news agenda at this summer’s European Championship.
Branding England “s—” in their dire draw against Denmark has helped rake in millions for Lineker’s podcast empire and news of his Match of the Day departure comes just a week after he was quoted saying he could quit to focus on the new venture full-time.
It also comes soon after an email was reportedly leaked purporting to quote BBC director general Tim Davie and recently appointed director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski confirming Lineker’s exit.
The corporation responded by insisting no such decision had been made but it was noticeably silent after yesterday’s news about the future of its star football presenter.
After the crisis over his Nazi jibe was ultimately followed by Barbara Slater’s retirement as director of sport, Kay-Jelski could be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief that the BBC’s Lineker problem will soon be off his hands.
