Gary Lineker has reportedly been ruled out of presenting the BBC’s new Champions League highlights show next season, putting his future on Match of the Day in doubt.
The BBC has signed a ground-breaking three-year deal in 2022 to broadcast highlights of Europe’s elite club competition from the start of the 2024-25 campaign, with 16 planned Wednesday evening programmes throughout the season.
However, according to The TelegraphAlthough Lineker presents the BBC’s flagship football programme, Match of the Day, he will not be part of its new show.
Having previously presented BT Sport’s Champions League coverage, Lineker was seen as a favourite for the job, but the report goes on to claim that Gabby Logan was chosen by BBC bosses.
Lineker has just 12 months left on his £1.35m-a-year BBC contract and this latest development adds further uncertainty to his future with the corporation.
Gary Lineker has reportedly been excluded from presenting the BBC’s new Champions League highlights programme for next season.
There was already no clarity over whether this would be extended after his suspension from Match of the Day last year, which prompted several of his fellow pundits to go on strike in solidarity, something that embarrassed senior BBC figures.
Lineker was reprimanded by the BBC in March 2023 after posting on social media that the Conservative government’s language around asylum policy was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s”.
These comments caused controversy and led to the BBC removing him from Match of the Day that week, prompting people including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright to go on strike in protest.
Meanwhile, the report goes on to add that the BBC held talks with Lineker over its new Champions League highlights show but did not make him a formal offer.
His busy schedule, which includes his hit podcast Rest is Football, along with his lack of desire to travel to the BBC studio in Salford for midweek shows, are understood to have played a part in the decision.
The Telegraph report also says that Lineker’s future is now in the hands of BBC director general Tim Davie, with the broadcaster having secured Match of the Day until 2029 and needing to provide clarity on the show’s future.
Lineker remains outspoken about his political views, something that worries those at the BBC.
However, following that suspension last year, an independent panel subsequently ruled that the channel’s non-news presenters should be allowed to express political views.
Lineker also attracted the ire of many, including some within the England squad, by being particularly critical of the Three Lions’ performances at Euro 2024.
This included the 63-year-old calling his performance against Denmark “s**t”, something captain Harry Kane responded to.
The BBC is expected to confirm more about his new Champions League commitments next month.
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