• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Gary Lineker to step back from presenting Match Of The Day

Home> Sport

Updated 17:13 10 Mar 2023 GMTPublished 16:46 10 Mar 2023 GMT

breaking

Gary Lineker to step back from presenting Match Of The Day

Gary Lineker is standing down from Match of The Day

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

Gary Lineker is stepping back from presenting Match of The Day.

In a statement, the BBC said that the former England player would take a break from the weekly football show.

A spokesperson said that he would no longer present it until there is 'an agreed and clear position on his use of social media'.

It read: "The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.

Advert

“The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”

Gary Lineker is taking a step back from Match of The Day.
BBC

This comes after Lineker found himself in a political storm after he criticised the UK government over its handling of the migrant crisis.

Taking to Twitter, the 62-year-old hit out at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other officials for the language they used in a Home Office post about getting control of the number of small boats crossing the Channel in recent months.

Advert

This is in relation to the Illegal Migration Bill, which is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday (13 March).

Blasting the legislation, Lineker said it was similar to language used in Nazi Germany.

"There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries," he said.

"This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s."

Following his statement, some came out and called for Lineker to be sacked by the BBC, which has a strict policy of neutrality.

Advert

Responding to his comments, Sunak defended the bill, saying he believed it was the right thing to do to get a hold of the situation.

“I hope everyone over time realises that this is the right approach because we’ve looked at lots of different things, tried lots of other ways, as I’ve said, and nothing else has worked," said the PM.

“And having looked at this long and hard myself I’m confident this is the best and right approach to solve this problem, which I think everyone acknowledges is a challenge and it’s one of my five priorities because I think it’s undoubtedly something that the country thinks is important and needs resolving.

“The question is how do you resolve it in a way that’s fair, compassionate and can resolve it and that’s what I think our approach does.”

Advert

However, despite the backlash he received, Lineker was defiant and said that he would do the same again.

And in a tweet, he thanked people for their support and said that he would be back this week to present the hit sports show.

The ex-Barcelona striker said: “Happy that this ridiculously out of proportion story seems to be abating and very much looking forward to presenting [Match of the Day] on Saturday. Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming."

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: UK News, Sport, Football, Gary Lineker

Dominic Smithers
Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers is LADbible's Editorial Lead. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History, he went on to write for the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express. So as you can imagine, he’s spent many a night wondering just how useful that second language has been. But c'est la vie.

X

@SmithersDom

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
5 hours ago
8 hours ago
11 hours ago
  • 2 hours ago

    Spanish government demand investigation into footballer Lamine Yamal's birthday party after 'dwarves exploited'

    The Barcelona footballer celebrated his 18th with a lavish party but was criticised for his antics

    News
  • 5 hours ago

    Matthew McConaughey praised for his gesture to Prince William and Kate Middleton at Wimbledon

    Prince William and Kate Middleton watched on as Jannik Sinner took home the Wimbledon men’s trophy

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Chelsea captain Reece James reveals what happened when Donald Trump 'gatecrashed' Club World Cup celebration

    Maybe he just wanted to be involved

    News
  • 11 hours ago

    Fans slam 'worst show in the history of sports' as Club World Cup puts on its first ever halftime performance

    Thankfully, it wasn't quite as long as a Super Bowl halftime show

    News
  • Gary Lineker to quit Match Of The Day after 25 years
  • Favourites to host Match Of The Day with Gary Lineker to quit at end of season
  • Gary Lineker apologises for ‘genuine mistake’ over emoji as he confirms departure from BBC
  • Gary Lineker takes brutal swipe at Gareth Southgate with seven-word comment after England final defeat