Gary Lineker to go away BBC on Sunday after antisemitism row

Gary Lineker will depart the BBC at this weekend, it was once introduced on Monday, days after he apologised for amplifying on-line subject matter with antisemitic connotations.

The presenter, the highest-paid on-air famous person on the BBC, were scheduled to provide the 2026 World Cup and subsequent season’s FA Cup for the company.

However, amid proceeding anger amongst BBC team of workers and managers over his social media submit, it was once showed on Monday that he would finish his presenting tasks with the broadcaster early, after fronting his ultimate Match of the Day this weekend.

Tim Davie, the BBC’s director basic, mentioned: “Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made. Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back from further presenting after this season.

“Gary has been a defining voice in football coverage for the BBC for over two decades. His passion and knowledge have shaped our sports journalism and earned him the respect of sports fans across the UK and beyond. We want to thank him for the contribution he has made.”

Lineker mentioned: “Football has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember – both on the pitch and in the studio. I care deeply about the game, and about the work I’ve done with the BBC over many years. As I’ve said, I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic – it goes against everything I stand for.

“However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”

It successfully brings to an finish a decades-long dating with the BBC, through which the company evolved the previous England striker into its main sports activities presenter. His ultimate Match of the Day will come 26 years after he took over from Des Lynam.

Last week, the 64-year-old apologised after it emerged he had reposted a pro-Palestine video on social media that criticised Zionism and integrated an indication of a rat. Lineker has 1.2m fans at the platform.

A rat is an antisemitic trope that was once utilized in Nazi Germany to characterise Jews as vermin. Lineker mentioned in a commentary that he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic” and had deleted the submit “as soon as I became aware of the issue”.

However, the anger from the BBC’s maximum senior figures was once transparent. Davie were dealing with calls all week to sack Lineker, who was once paid £1.4m through the BBC ultimate yr.

He was once faced through Lineker’s movements at a high-profile speech concerning the company’s long run in Salford. “The BBC’s reputation is held by everyone and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us,” he mentioned. “I think we absolutely need people to be exemplars of the BBC’s values and follow our social media policy. Simple as that.”

The BBC will now start a brand new technology of protection with out Lineker. He might be changed on Match of the Day through Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman, who will proportion the presenting function from the following Premier League season.

It comes after a tumultuous few years within the dating between Lineker and the BBC. In March 2023, he was once quickly suspended over feedback he made criticising the Conservative executive’s asylum coverage.

In February this yr, he was once additionally amongst 500 high-profile cultural figures who referred to as at the BBC to rebroadcast a documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone, calling it an “essential piece of journalism”.

The broadcaster got rid of the documentary from BBC iPlayer after it emerged that the movie’s 14-year-old narrator was once the son of a deputy agriculture minister within the territory’s Hamas-run executive.

Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former director of tv who has been a number one critic of Lineker’s movements and the BBC’s dealing with of the problem, mentioned that it was once proper that he was once leaving. However, he mentioned the incident was once “a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself”. He accused the BBC of alternative breaches of impartiality, together with the Gaza documentary.

“All of this has been causing great pain to Britain’s Jewish community and consistently undermining the BBC’s reputation,” he mentioned. “Weak leadership by BBC executives has allowed racism against Jews to fester in the organisation for too long. The time for truly effective change is now, starting with an unequivocal zero tolerance of antisemitism in any form.”

The manufacturer Leo Pearlman additionally accused the BBC of “weak and ineffectual leadership” and mentioned there was once no victory in Lineker leaving “seemingly on his own terms”. He mentioned: “After months of gaslighting British Jewry, the BBC must now decide: will it use the exit of its highest-paid and most visible purveyor of divisive rhetoric at best, hate speech at worst, as a catalyst for change, or confirm that Jewish concerns in Britain remain sidelined and ignored by our national broadcaster?”