
Dumping Gary Lineker is a self-destructive move the BBC will live to regret
The IndependentWatching the flagship BBC News at 10 programme on Monday night, you might have been forgiven for thinking all was well in the world – that Gaza was no longer a killing field, that Ukraine was safe from Putin, that the planet had started to cool down. Indeed, after he comprehensively outflanked the BBC’s director general last March, when his disciplinary suspension for anti-government social media posts was speedily reversed following the entire football reporting team withdrawing their labour in solidarity, there is an argument that he is bigger than the corporation itself. As Katie Razzall, the BBC’s media editor, reported on the news, Lineker has not been offered a contract extension; he wanted to stay on, at least for a bit longer. He learned from his mentor, Des Lynam, a way of treating his subject with importance but not reverence, able to recognise its essential absurdity without undermining its consequence Which, if true, must constitute one of the most self-destructive executive moves in television history. Plus, you suspect other broadcasters will be watching the BBC’s profligacy with some attention, particularly in the US, where the growing market for English football could easily find room for a broadcaster of his prominence.
History of this topic

Gary Lineker's podcast empire records soaring profit worth over £1MILLION... days after defecting to ITV
Daily Mail
BBC star Gary Lineker defects to rival ITV for new TV show which will see him questioned by autistic interviewers
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'I never enjoyed presenting it': Gary Lineker gives shock Sports Personality of the Year snub - as he breaks his silence on exiting the show after 23 years
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Kelly Cates: Replacing Gary Lineker is a self-destructive move the BBC will live to regret
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Alan Shearer addresses Gary Lineker exit in unusual opening to Match of the Day
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Host with the most
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Host with the most
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Gary Lineker breaks social media silence on shock announcement he will leave Match of the Day at the end of the season
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'Gary Lineker can buy his own leaving present!' BBC presenter says staff 'won't be having a whip round' in swipe at star's £1.3m salary after he was axed as host of Match of the Day
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Gary Lineker became the face of the BBC – but his exit shows everyone is replaceable
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What next for Match of the Day? How axing Gary Lineker paves way for new BBC Sport supremo Alex Kay-Jelski to cuts costs and overhaul show for 'younger audience' as Alex Scott and Gabby Logan lead rac
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Gary Lineker: What are his businesses and how much money does he make?
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Gary Lineker's long history of controversies while Match of the Day host: From Brexit and asylum seekers to Nazi Germany jibe and row over breaching BBC advertising rules
Daily Mail
Gary Lineker Match of the Day exit CONFIRMED: BBC announce host's new contract will see him step down from flagship show as it 'evolves' and saves his new boss 'millions'
Daily Mail
Who should replace Gary Lineker on Match of the Day? Join The Independent Debate
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Who do YOU think should replace Gary Lineker as the next presenter of Match of the Day? Vote in MailOnline's poll as presenter steps down
Daily Mail
Gary Lineker's Match of the Day axeing set to be confirmed TODAY as it emerges that BBC 'DIDN'T offer him a new contract' and business partner Alastair Campbell confirms his exit
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Gary Lineker, TV pundit and former England captain, leaves BBC’s ‘Match of the Day’ 25 years after taking over
The Hindu
Gary Lineker has shaped the football conversation for 25 years but his controversies got too much for the BBC, writes IAN HERBERT
Daily Mail
Gary Lineker has been spotted for the first time since 'quitting Match of The Day': BBC star seen having intimate meal with family
Daily Mail
Revealed: The favourites to replace Gary Lineker as Match of the Day presenter - with England legend set to leave iconic BBC show after 26 years at the end of the season
Daily Mail
The lead up to Gary Lineker 'quitting Match of the Day' follows a long history of Twitter own goals and gaffes - from slamming Brexit to backing asylum seekers
Daily Mail
Gary Lineker: Bigger problems in the world than my Match of the Day contract
The Independent
Gary Lineker pokes fun at rumours over his Match of the Day future with cheeky opening to Saturday's show amid suggestions his time on flagship BBC programme could be ending
Daily Mail
How Gary Lineker will keep raking it in if he leaves the BBC: profiting from his ultra-successful podcast, earning jaw-dropping sums from Walkers and broadcasters will be scrambling for his services
Daily Mail
BBC stress Gary Lineker remains under contract until end of the season despite shock email suggesting Saturday will be his final Match of the Day show as host
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Gary Lineker opens door to Match of the Day extension after Jermaine Jenas scandal
The Independent
Gary Lineker: ‘Elon Musk is clearly a very odd bloke’
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From Des Lynam to Gary Lineker, Match of the Day has become a national institution - but now its 60th birthday has been overshadowed by the Jermaine Jenas scandal and their balloon is burst
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What is Gary Lineker’s net worth?
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Give Gary Lineker a break and end the annual BBC salary horror show
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Is this the beginning of the end for Gary Lineker at the BBC? £1.35m-a-year presenter is SNUBBED for Gabby Logan to front new Champions League highlights show - with just 12 months left on his Match o
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Players vs Pundits: From Gary Lineker and Harry Kane's Euro 2024 tiff to Zlatan Ibrahimovic telling a reporter to 'stop' talking as well as Roy Keane's beef with Erling Haaland after League Two commen
Daily Mail
LISTEN: On today's EUROS DAILY, why Gary Lineker is involved in a soundbite arms race over England
Daily Mail
Euro 2024 pundit wars: BBC and ITV unveil their line-ups with Laura Woods and Gary Lineker front and centre - so who comes out on top after signing up Wayne Rooney and three top Premier League manager
Daily Mail
Now Gary Lineker taunts Tory MPs who criticised him for calling for the Rwanda plan to be scrapped as MOTD host faces latest BBC impartiality row
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Gary Lineker responds after ex-Match of The Day host Des Lynam tells him to stick to football
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Gary Lineker remains at top of list of BBC’s highest paid on-air talent
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Gary Lineker says he is bewildered by ‘disproportionate’ response to tweet
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BBC defends its news coverage of Gary Lineker row after viewers’ complaints
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Gary Lineker to miss FA Cup coverage as he is ‘silenced by nasty cold’
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Gary Lineker cancels appearance on Match Of The Day Live
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Gary Lineker makes BBC return after impartiality row
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