BBC confirms Gary Lineker will leave earlier than planned after social media controversy

Lineker’s departure comes just days after he is accused of sharing ‘antisemitic’ content on social media with the final Match of the Day this season set for Sunday

Gary Lineker will leave the BBC after 26 years with the broadcaster, the broadcaster has confirmed.

Lineker will walk away after his final Match of the Day show rather than staying to present future coverage including the men’s 2026 World Cup. The 64-year-old’s exit comes days after he apologised for inadvertently sharing a pro-Palestine social media post which featured a picture of a rat.

“Gary Lineker will leave his presenting role following the conclusion of Match of the Day for the 2024/25 season,” read a statement from the BBC. “He will not be part of the BBC's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or next season's FA Cup coverage.

While Lineker added: “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.”

Lineker said he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic” after reposting a video on his Instagram account from the group Palestine Lobby, titled “Zionism explained in two minutes”.

The post included an image of a rat, which Lineker said he was not aware of. Rats have been used to represent antisemitic propaganda throughout history, including by the Nazis in 1930s Germany.

Lineker’s apology was followed by the publication of an interview with the Daily Telegraph in which Lineker said Israel’s response to the 7 October terrorist attacks was “completely out of proportion”.

In comments that were made before sharing the pro-Palestine post on social media, the former England striker said anyone who was silent on the war in Gaza was “almost complicit” and called Israel’s actions “depraved”.

Lineker was due to leave Match of the Day at the end of the season, but he planned to continue presenting some of the BBC’s football coverage through to the end of the World Cup next summer.

Yet the former England striker’s social media post reopened previous tensions with the broadcaster over its impartiality guidelines and reportedly upset some BBC colleagues.

A source told The Sun: “It is a heartbreaking end to an extraordinary broadcasting career.”

Lineker will walk away from the BBC after his final ‘Match of the Day’ show (BBC)

Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC, urged staff to “follow the rules” when it came to impartiality in the wake of Lineker’s apology and his repost on Instagram.

The BBC briefly removed Lineker from hosting Match of the Day in March 2023 after he compared the government’s language used in launching an asylum seeker policy to 1930s Germany.

It did not stop Lineker from criticising the BBC’s impartiality guidelines, stating: “Why shouldn’t I have an opinion on things? I’m a bloody footballer who’s turned into a sports presenter.”

Last month, Lineker said he thought senior executives at the BBC wanted him to step down and in a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph appeared to criticise the BBC’s new director of sport, Alex Kay-Jelski.

He had signed a new one-year contract to stay on to host the 2026 men’s World Cup and had confirmed that he would not take up another presenting role, instead focusing on his podcast empire with Goalhanger.