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Big-name BBC departure looming amid growing internal tensions

Exit nearing for Lineker after decades on air

Gary Lineker, one of the most recognisable faces in British broadcasting, is set to part ways with the BBC, marking the end of a defining era in sports presentation. A formal announcement is anticipated on Monday, with Lineker expected to present his final Match of the Day next weekend.

Sources close to the matter suggest the 64-year-old, the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, will also step down from covering major tournaments, including the 2026 World Cup. The decision, long in the making, now appears to be precipitated by recent events that have again tested the boundaries between public broadcasting impartiality and personal expression.

👉 Lineker's Final Whistle: When the Presenter Becomes the Story

There’s something quietly tragic about this ending. @GaryLineker, once the crisp voice of calm over the game’s chaos, is now edged out by a storm of headlines that have little to do with football. It’s not a… pic.twitter.com/nrpF1ENR5F

— Eddie Gibbs (@eddiegibbs) May 19, 2025

Apology, social media and BBC values

Last week, Lineker found himself at the centre of controversy after sharing a social media post referencing Zionism, accompanied by an image of a rat—an illustration historically tied to antisemitic propaganda. The backlash was swift.

Lineker said he “very much regretted the references”, stressing, “I would never knowingly share anything antisemitic” and confirmed he had deleted the post upon learning the image’s symbolic weight.

BBC Director General Tim Davie offered a clear reminder of the stakes. “The BBC’s reputation is held by everyone,” he said, “and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us.”

Behind the scenes, it’s understood that senior BBC figures viewed Lineker’s position as increasingly untenable. His critics argue that such incidents risk undermining the broadcaster’s hard-fought neutrality, particularly at a time when scrutiny of public institutions is fiercer than ever.

Past rows and revised impartiality rules

This is not the first time Lineker’s Twitter activity has collided with BBC protocols. In March 2023, he was temporarily suspended following a tweet in which he compared government asylum policy language to that “used by Germany in the 30s”.

The incident prompted a major overhaul of the BBC’s social media policy. New rules were introduced requiring presenters of flagship programmes outside of news and current affairs—such as Match of the Day—to “respect the BBC’s impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC”.

Although Lineker returned to screens, questions lingered. In November 2024, he announced he would step down from Match of the Day, but pledged to continue presenting the BBC’s FA Cup and World Cup coverage.

Reflections, future and BBC evolution

In an interview last month, Lineker claimed he sensed the BBC wanted him to walk away. “Well, perhaps they want me to leave,” he said. “There was the sense of that.” The BBC did not directly respond to his suggestion but described him as a “world-class presenter” and said Match of the Day “continually evolves for changing viewing habits”.

Now that evolution appears to be in motion. Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan have been named as the new presenting team for the show, starting in the 2025-26 season.

Lineker has remained publicly silent on his imminent departure. In the same interview, he reflected on the 2023 tweets that sparked the impartiality row. “Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No I wouldn’t, because of all the nonsense that came with it.”

He also hinted at his next steps, suggesting they may not involve television. “I think I’ll step back from that now,” he told Amol Rajan. “I think I’ll probably focus more on the podcast world.”

Pressure and perspectives on impartiality

Roger Mosey, the former director of BBC Sport and BBC television news, weighed in on the controversy, arguing that Lineker could not be both “the BBC’s highest-paid presenter and a social media activist”.

“In my view, if you are the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, you should not be taking the kind of political lead he has been doing,” Mosey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He posed a provocative hypothetical: “Many people this morning may be thinking, ‘well, I agree with Gary about Palestine, or I agreed with Gary about the EU’. But imagine if he had been tweeting pro-Leave, or pro-Israel—would you still support that right to speak out?”

On the prospect of Lineker fronting the 2026 World Cup, Mosey was emphatic. “It would have been through psychodrama—of what does Gary think about Trump, what does Gary think about the latest international developments.”

As Lineker prepares for his likely exit, the BBC faces a familiar challenge: how to maintain impartiality in a digital age, while retaining the public trust that is the cornerstone of its identity.