Veteran sports presenter and former England striker Gary Lineker has hinted that the BBC was keen for him to step down from its long-running football show Match of the Day, where he has served as host for over 25 years.
In a candid interview with BBC journalist Amol Rajan, Lineker addressed his impending departure from the programme and discussed his views on human rights, particularly the UK’s treatment of asylum seekers and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
When asked why he would leave such a high-profile role, Lineker responded, “Well, perhaps they want me to leave … There was a sense of that.”
Despite this, Lineker noted that he would still front BBC coverage of the FA Cup and the World Cup, saying the arrangement “suits me perfectly.”
“I think it was their preference that I didn’t do Match of the Day for one more year so they could bring in new people, so it’s slightly unusual that I would do the FA Cup and World Cup, but to be honest, it’s a scenario that suits me perfectly.”
Lineker, who joined Match of the Day in 1999, was briefly suspended by the BBC in 2023 after describing the government’s asylum policy as “immeasurably cruel” in a social media post.
He compared the rhetoric around the policy to “Germany in the 30s,” referencing the punitive measures against asylum seekers arriving via so-called “illegal routes,” particularly across the English Channel.
He stood by his remarks in the interview. “I don’t regret saying [the comments] publicly, because I was right—what I said, it was accurate—so not at all in that sense,” Lineker said.
Rajan also questioned Lineker about his views on the Israel-Gaza conflict, during which Lineker strongly defended the right to speak out on humanitarian issues.
“I know where I stand on this… What’s going on there, the mass murder of thousands of children, is probably something we should have an opinion on,” he said.
When Rajan pointed out the BBC’s obligation to remain impartial, Gary Lineker replied, “Why? It needs to be factual,” adding that the broadcaster had taken clear editorial positions on conflicts such as the war in Ukraine.
Rajan highlighted Israel’s position that its actions in Gaza followed the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which resulted in the deaths and abduction of Israeli civilians. Lineker interrupted to say, “But that’s not the full context. The full context started way before October 7, didn’t it?”
The conversation also addressed the BBC’s decision to remove a documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, from its iPlayer service following pressure from pro-Israel groups. The film was narrated by a 14-year-old Palestinian boy identified as the son of a former deputy agriculture minister in Gaza.
Gary Lineker, who joined hundreds of public figures in urging the BBC to reinstate the film, defended it as a powerful and essential piece of journalism.
“I think you let people make their minds up. We’re adults. We’re allowed to see things like that. It’s incredibly moving,” he said.
