I felt that the BBC wanted me to leave the match of the day

Gary Lineker said he thought the BBC wanted him to leave the match of the day when he was negotiating a new contract last year.

The presenter and the BBC announced jointly in November that he would withdraw from the flagship football program, although he will always welcome the World Cup and the cover of the FA Cup.

Questioned by Amol Rajan of the BBC why he would choose to leave given his successful mandate, Lineker said: “Well, maybe I want me to go. There was the meaning of this.”

The BBC did not comment on this suggestion, but at the time of the release of Lineker, the director of sport of the company described it as a “world class presenter”.

However, the BBC noted in the same statement as the match of the day “evolves continuously to change visualization habits”.

A new trio of presenters – Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan – was announced in January.

By thinking about his start at Match of the Day, Lineker told Rajan: “It’s time. I have done it for a long time, it was brilliant.”

However, he asked why he wanted to leave when the notes were always raised and that it was a lineker who still appreciated, the former footballer said that he “had the meaning” the BBC wanted him to resign.

“I always wanted another contract, and I was Umm-id and Ahh-id to do three years (more),” said Lineker.

But, he continued, the question of the time to be signed was complicated by the cycle of broadcasting rights for the matches.

“In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new period of rights, it was a chance to change the program,” he said.

“I think it was their preference that I did not make a match of the day for a year more, so that they could bring new people. It is therefore a little unusual that I do the FA Cup and the World Cup, but to be honest, it’s a scenario that suits me perfectly.”

Lineker added that he was happy that his football podcasts were recovered by the BBC Sound as part of an agreement with the company.

Lineker was also asked about the comments he published on social networks in March 2023, criticizing the immigration policy of the time.

The remarks led to its BBC suspensionI encourageing other sports presenters to reduce solidarity tools, something Lineker said he felt “moved”.

By reflecting on his tweets, Lineker said that he did not regret having taken the position he had made, but that he would not start again because of the “damage” he made to the BBC.

“I do not regret having said them publicly, because I was right – what I said was correct – so not at all in this direction.

“Would I be, with hindsight, starting again? No, I would not do it, because of all the nonsense that came with … It was a ridiculous reaction which was only a response to someone who was very rude. And I was not particularly rude.”

He continued: “But I would not do it again because of all the Kerfuffle that followed, and I love the BBC, and I did not like the damage he did at the BBC … But do I regret it and I think it was not the bad thing to do?”

The row broke out when Lineker called a “immeasurably cruel” asylum policy, and said that a video promoting it used “not different from that used by Germany in the 1930s”.

The interior secretary of the time, Suella Braverman, who appeared in the video, described his criticisms as “offensive” and “lazy”, while Downing Street said that she was “not acceptable”.

The Lineker position has rekindled the debate on BBC impartiality guidelines on social networks and how it applied to the presenters.

Although the staff working in current news and affairs should remain impartial on social platforms, there were questions about the amount of extended rules to BBC personalities in other areas such as entertainment and sport.

Lineker argued that all the previous rules “concerned people in news and current affairs”.

“They later changed,” he recognized. “But that left people like me, who has always given his honest opinions on things, then they suddenly changed them and you have to say:” Oh, I must be impartial now “. It makes no sense.”

He added: “I have always been strong on humanitarian issues and I will always be, and it’s me.”

Lineker said that, following his tweets, “the goal posts were massively moved because it was never a problem until suddenly this point”.

BBC Update of his advice on social networks in 2023 Following an examination which was ordered following the repercussions on the Lineker tweets.

The company said that the presenters of flagship programs, such as Match of the Day, “have a particular responsibility to respect the impartiality of the BBC, because of their profile on the BBC”.

When he was asked if he understood that his comments made ammunition to the BBC criticisms, Lineker said: “Yes of course, I understand that, but that hurts what I did? I don’t think.

Lineker has once again made the headlines recently when he, as well as 500 other high -level figures, signed an open later exhorting the BBC To reintegrate a documentary on Gaza to Iplayer.

The documentary, Gaza: how to survive in a war zone, was withdrawn from the streaming service in February after emerging his 13 -year -old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

Lineker told Rajan that he would support “100%” the documentary made available again, arguing: “I think you let people get their own minds. We are adults. We are allowed to see things like that. It is incredibly moving.”

He added that, although the 13 -year -old tells the program, the script had “not been written by (the child), he was written by the people who produced the show”.

“I think that (the BBC) just capitulated to put pressure on the fact that they get a lot,” he said.

After the concerns were raised, the BBC won the program when it has shown reasonable diligence. The case is currently looking for the company.

The BBC said it had identified serious faults in the production of the documentary. The BBC board of directors said that the errors were “important and harmful”.

In the vast interview, which will be broadcast on Tuesday, Lineker also discussed his football career, the leukemia battle of her son as a baby and his opinions on gaming in sports.

Lineker said the football industry is expected to rethink its responsibility when it comes to taking money from game companies.

“I know people (for whom) it becomes an addiction, it can completely destroy their lives,” he said.

“We are talking about removing (logos) from the shirts, but you see it on the boards around the ground everywhere.

“I think football needs a long hard look at this subject, I really do it.”

In addition to her presentation roles, Lineker is also the co-founder of Buthanger’s Podcasts, which are successful The Rest Is History Series and its spin-offs on politics, football, entertainment and money.

The 64 -year -old man told Rajan his next career move “will not be more TV”, adding: “I think I’m going to take back it now.

“I think I’m probably going to focus more on the world of the podcast, because it is such a funny affair and it was so incredible.”

Amol Rajan interviews: Gary Lineker is on bbc iplayer from 06:00 And will broadcast on BBC Two at 7:00 p.m. BST on Tuesday.