![TV Presenter and ex-Leicester City player Gary Lineker looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Crystal Palace and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on May 17, 2025 in London, England. [Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GettyImages-2215674819-1-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Gary Lineker, a former England football captain who became the face of the sport on British TV, will leave the broadcaster after apologising for sharing a social media post about Zionism that drew complaints over anti-Semitism, Reuters reports.
Lineker, 64, who scored 48 times for his country, moved into broadcasting after hanging up his boots, presenting the BBC’s flagship ‘Match of the Day’ (MOTD) highlights show for 25 years.
The former striker was the broadcaster’s highest paid star, but had repeatedly been cautioned for condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Lineker said today he would depart after Sunday’s final matches of the season. He apologised “unreservedly” last week after sharing online material that criticised Zionism and featured a picture of a rat, historically used as an insult against Jews, which drew complaints from campaigners against anti-Semitism.
READ: Over 600 media figures urge BBC to air shelved Gaza medics documentary
“Gary has acknowledged the mistake he made. Accordingly, we have agreed he will step back from further presenting after this season,” BBC Director General Tim Davie said in a statement.
Lineker, who was paid £1.35 million ($1.80 million), was already set to step down from MOTD this year but had been due to carry on fronting the BBC’s 2026 World Cup coverage and next season’s FA Cup matches.
He repeated his apology for reposting the Instagram post “that contained an emoji that has awful connotations”, saying he would never consciously share anything anti-Semitic.
“It was a genuine mistake and oversight, but I should have been more diligent,” he said in a video statement announcing his decision to step down. “I’ve stood up for minorities and humanitarian issues and against all forms of racism all of my life, including, of course, antisemitism, which I absolutely abhor.”
But in recent years, Linekar’s views on issues such as opposing Britain’s exit from the EU have led to criticism from his foes.
He was temporarily taken off air in 2023 after he criticised the then-Conservative government’s immigration policy, but was reinstated after a public backlash and near mutiny at the broadcaster.
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
