Gary Lineker Scores a Hat Trick From His BBC Row
The star football pundit wins one over the BBC, the Tory government and the Labour Party.
Gary Lineker leaves his home with his dog.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/Getty Images EuropeDuring his playing years as English football’s most famous striker in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Gary Lineker was never cautioned by a referee or sent off the pitch. It wasn’t until after his playing career that the referees at the BBC blew the whistle.
As the world now knows, the star football pundit, host of the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day program and its highest paid personality, was benched last week over fears that his tweet about the government’s new immigration bill compromised the broadcaster’s commitment to impartiality. The sound that followed was the deafening roar from the footballing world flooding the pitch to back Lineker.