Sports presenter Gary Lineker announces his departure this week
Sports presenter Gary Lineker (64) is expected to announce on Monday that he will definitively leave the BBC. This was announced by his own broadcaster BBC and other British media on Monday morning. The announcement follows his apology last week for sharing a video that was seen as anti-Semitic.
It was already known that the former footballer would be seen for the last time next Sunday in the BBC sports program Match of the Day . However, he was supposed to stay on at the broadcaster to present the 2026 World Cup and next season's FA Cup. The latter now seems to be off the table.
Gary shared a video about Zionism on social media last week. The video's announcement featured an image of a rat, an animal used by Nazi Germany during World War II to denigrate Jews as vermin. Gary apologized, saying he "would never knowingly share anything anti-Semitic" and that he had deleted the post "as soon as I became aware of the issue."
Last week, BBC Director General Tim Davie also spoke out about the incident. "The BBC's reputation is held by everyone, and if someone makes a mistake, it will cost us," he said. According to The Guardian, BBC bosses find Lineker's position untenable.
Gary has been the BBC's highest-paid presenter for years. In March 2023, Gary was also in the news for being critical of the British government's refugee policy on social media. This was against BBC rules and Gary was therefore suspended. The broadcaster later drew up new rules on the use of social media by presenters.
RTL Nieuws
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