BBC insiders have questioned the wisdom of awarding Gary Lineker a new contract after the Match of the Day presenter gave a “damaging” interview that was aired by the broadcaster.
Speaking to Today presenter Amol Rajan in a BBC Two special, Lineker accused his bosses of “capitulating” to pro-Israel campaigners.
Lineker seemed to revel in his apparent impunity from disciplinary action by criticising editorial decisions taken by the broadcaster’s most senior figures, including the corporation’s chairman, Samir Shah.
Although the presenter will give up hosting the flagship football show in May, the BBC’s highest earner will return to front FA Cup games and the 2026 Fifa World Cup coverage – a compromise the presenter admitted was “slightly unusual”.
Staffers fear the deal will plunge the BBC into further controversy, giving the semi-detached star another year to weigh in on political issues in a manner which infuriates more tightly-buttoned colleagues. Referring to the Rajan interview, one BBC news figure said it was “baffling” that the BBC had given Lineker a “prime-time platform to embarrass the BBC”.
In the interview, Lineker dismissed an investigation led by Shah into the Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone documentary, which was pulled from the iPlayer streaming service in February after it emerged its 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
The BBC said it had identified serious flaws in the making of the documentary, leading to mistakes which were “significant and damaging”.
Lineker, who urged the BBC to reinstate the film, said in the interview: “I think [the BBC] just capitulated to lobbying that they get a lot.”
He added that the October Hamas-led attacks on Israel, in which 1,195 people were killed, were “truly awful but that’s not the full context because the full context starts way before October 7 doesn’t it”.
To the anger of BBC journalists, Lineker also claimed that the “BBC wasn’t impartial about Russia and Ukraine”.
The BBC was required to insert a denial in the interview programme, stating: “The BBC reports impartially on every conflict, including Russia and Ukraine, to give our audiences an understanding of what’s happening on the ground.”
Lineker went on to question why the BBC should be “impartial” about Gaza. He said the BBC should avoid partiality on domestic political issues but asked why that should be the case on “something that’s going on far away”.
A BBC news figure told The i Paper: “It’s baffling why the BBC gave Lineker this prime-time platform to embarrass the BBC. There’s anger that the BBC’s highest-paid star has effectively said the chairman of the BBC is a stooge for Israeli lobbyists.
“Frankly, Lineker’s also embarrassed himself with his ill-informed attempt to rewrite the BBC’s impartiality rules and our Ukraine coverage.”
They added: “If this was a parting shot, it would be one thing. The fudge of giving Lineker a new contract to be the BBC’s face of football at the World Cup was stupid because it means we will have another year of these damaging remarks.”
Danny Cohen, the former BBC director of television, who has accused the BBC of anti-Israel bias, said: “Gary Lineker does not seem to understand the journalistic standards expected of the BBC. This documentary clearly failed to meet those standards but this does not seem to bother him.
“This is particularly troubling given Gary is one of the BBC’s flagship presenters.”
Lineker, who has 8.7 million X followers, defended his “freedom of speech” to air his views as a freelance football presenter, since he does not work for the BBC’s news department.
The BBC has not reprimanded Lineker for any comments he has made since the presenter won a power-struggle with bosses two years ago, over tweets criticising the then Conservative government’s immigration policy.
Taking him off air for one MoTD show “was a silly over-reaction and I think they accept that now,” Lineker told Rajan.
However Lineker said he believed the BBC wanted him to leave MoTD, when he was open to continuing as negotiations began in 2024.
After giving up trying to rein in Lineker, the BBC now says that audiences can differentiate between the personal views of freelance presenters and the impartial position of the BBC.
But Lineker also poses a different threat to the BBC. His burgeoning Goalhanger podcast empire is luring listeners from the BBC’s own platforms and utilises fellow BBC pundits including Alan Shearer.
Indeed, the BBC has struck a licensing deal to run hits shows The Rest Is Football and The Rest Is History on its Sounds app.
Lineker concluded the Rajan interview by saying he does not want another regular TV gig and will be focusing on building up Goalhanger instead.
Whether inside or outside the building, Lineker will remain an influential force the BBC cannot silence.
