Gary Lineker to leave Match of the Day after 25 years
Gary Lineker will step down from hosting the BBC’s Match of the Day at the end of the current football season, it has been announced.
The 63-year-old former England striker has been the broadcaster’s highest-paid presenter in recent years for his work on MoTD and Sports Personality of The Year.
BBC News reports that the BBC is expected to announce the news on Tuesday but that the BBC press office has declined to comment.
The BBC’s most recent figures put his salary at around £1.35m during the 2023-24 financial year.
Lineker had survived the previous most serious threat to his job, after the BBC briefly suspended him for criticising the Conservative government’s immigration policy on social media last year.
When fellow pundits, including Alan Shearer, refused to appear on MoTD in solidarity with Lineker, causing one edition to be dropped, BBC bosses swiftly reinstated him.
Candidates tipped to replace Lineker as Match of the Day presenter were on “red alert” in October when a leaked email suggested his time on the show could be coming to an end.
Jermaine Jenas, who was seen as Lineker’s natural successor, is out of the picture after being sacked by the BBC following complaints about his conduct.
Match of the Day 2 presenter Mark Chapman is now considered to be in pole position to take over the Saturday night show. Other contenders include Gabby Logan and Alex Scott, the former England Lioness.
Asked by i in October to respond to suggestions the BBC might be preparing to bring his reign to an end, representatives for Lineker replied with the words “Operation Shrimp”, accompanied by a flag of the Republic of Benin in West Africa.
Operation Shrimp was a failed 1977 coup attempt in Benin, when French mercenaries tried to remove Mathieu Kérékou, the African nation’s revolutionary communist party leader.
This is a breaking story that is being updated
