Sport

BBC asks Gary Lineker to temporarily ‘step back’ as Match of the Day presenter

The 62-year-old former England striker has presented the flagship football show since 1999.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 10th March 2023

The BBC has just announced that it has asked Gary Lineker to “step back” from presenting Match of the Day.

Until a “clear position on his use of social media” is agreed, the broadcaster has confirmed that the 62-year-old former England striker – who is freelance broadcaster for BBC Sport – will not present the flagship football show.

Lineker has been the lead presenter on Match of the Day since 1999.

The broadcaster said in a statement released this afternoon: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days.

“We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.”

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The statement continues: “The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.

“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none.

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“We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”

The BBC’s move to suspend Lineker comes after the former professional footballer has been at the forefront of several days of intense scrutiny and debate over his Twitter posts criticising the UK government’s asylum seeker policy.

His initial tweet saw him compare the language used to announce the government’s policy with that of 1930s Germany – which went on to spark a row over whether he broke BBC impartiality rules.

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In the wake of the tweets, however, Lineker later said that he had “never known such love and support” from the public in response, adding that aside from his England World Cup goals, “I want to thank each and every one of you. It means a lot.

“I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice.”

Featured Image – BBC

Sport

We Are Football Festival – Europe’s largest World Cup fan park gets even bigger for quarter-finals

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson We Are Football Festival - Europe’s biggest World Cup fan park is opening in Manchester

The largest World Cup fan park not just in Manchester or the UK but all of Europe just got even bigger, as the latest ambitious project from 4TheFans is seeing them expand from Freight Island into Depot Mayfield.

We Are Football Festival, in partnership with Freight Island and Broadwick, will bring together 13,000 football fans in front of the biggest screens in the country to cheer on England as they continue their race for World Cup glory. 

The already enormous fan park opened at Freight in June, but now they’ll be opening up the iconic Depot next door, further transforming the space into an unrivalled celebration of football.

Fans have been utterly immersed in the action thanks to a massive sound system, pyrotechnics, CO2 cannons, DJs, and entertainment around the games themselves – providing just about the closest thing you can get to a big game atmosphere. 

We Are Football Festival by 4TheFans
We Are Football Festival by 4TheFans
The fan park will open at Depot Mayfield
The fan park spills over into Depot Mayfield
It's set to be Europe's biggest World Cup fan zone
Credit: 4TheFans

The venue is open for all late kick-offs, too, and with England now through to the quarter-final stages following that dramatic 3-2 thriller against Mexico, the heat is really starting to ramp up.

Fans can head to Freight, as well as the rooftop or garden at Depot Mayfield from 5pm kick-off on matchdays in the sunshine, now with room for even more supporters to flood into the famous Manc Warehouse for those late-night games in the warehouse. 

Here’s hoping it doesn’t get much later than a 4am full-time whistle again, eh?

There’s also the dedicated ‘Footy Fun Village’, which includes sponsored activations, games zones, and more family-friendly areas, creating a safe space for fans of all ages to enjoy the tournament no matter the time of day.

4TheFans and Freight Island have also hand-picked a great selection of food traders from around the world, not to mention a top-shelf bar selection.

We Are Football Fest’s 2026 World Cup coverage also comes with dedicated 4TheFans hosts, plus Sky Sports presenters, and the matches thus far have even seen England football legends providing quality match analysis at each screening. 

Since launching, 4TheFans has welcomed hundreds of thousands of fans, and camera crews from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News, Sky Sports, England TV, and Match of the Day, to fan parks across the UK.

It’s now chosen Depot Mayfield for its World Cup fan park, where they can fill the huge space at Freight Island first before scaling into the rest of the Depot as the fan community grows and the Three Lions march on. 

4TheFans is the UK’s original and biggest fan park brand, and it’s working with Freight Island and Broadwick to deliver this game-changing We Are Football Festival – the biggest and best fan park in Europe. 

5,000 early bird tickets are available from just £4.50 per person, which come with one beer included, are on sale right HERE.

4TheFans presents We Are Football Festival will run at Depot Mayfield from 11 June until 19 July 2026. 

General admission tickets include

  • 4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
  • Football legend in attendance
  • Guaranteed entry to the event
  • The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
  • Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
  • Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
  • Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders

VIP table tickets include

  • VIP table section with the best view of the giant screens and the event
  • Meet and greet with a football legend
  • 4TheFans interactive show with on-stage banter from a Sky Sports presenter
  • Guaranteed entry to the event
  • The most enormous anti-glare screens in the UK and a monster sound system
  • Special effects, lighting, DJ sets and music from doors till close
  • Access to Footy Fun Village with games, activations and family areas
  • Food from around the world and an exclusive bar traders
Credit: Supplied

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Featured Images – Press shots by Vision Seven (supplied via 4TheFans)

Sport

Wayne Rooney ‘agrees’ to bizarre bet ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals

Danny Jones Danny Jones Rooney to row down the River Mersey bet Norway quarter finals

England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has seemingly roped himself into a bizarre bet of his own making after yet more teams booked their place in the quarter-final stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

It’s not quite Gary Lineker doing Match of the Day in his underpants after Leicester won the league, level, but we’d still pay to see it.

However, after the bedlam following England booking their spot in the quarter-finals this morning (feels odd to say and we’re still not quite sure what day it is), you might be surprised to learn it has nothing to do with the Three Lions’ historic victory.

It does have to do with who they’ll be facing in their next game, though: Norway, as Rooney seemed confident enough in his prediction that the Scandinavian side wouldn’t make it into the final eight that he wagered he’d row down the River Mersey. Well, they did…

Yes, in case you missed it, the Norwegians did make it past Brazil with a 2-1 win – and, of course, more goals for Erling Haaland – before Thomas Tuchel’s side had barely even woken up for their very long day at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico.

While no one was quite sure why ‘Wazza’ was quite so confident that the ‘Seleção’ were going to go through, especially since Norway had shown just as much star power in spells in the opening four rounds, he still decided to throw down the gauntlet on himself.

As you can see in the clip above, he says he’s a “man of [his] word” and looks to have even roped in the likes of fellow former pros turned punditry colleagues on the night, Micah Richards and Joe Hart.

That being said, he did make the caveat that perhaps it would be better if the BBC could somehow sort them to sail down the Hudson River in New York instead, simply for the sake of ‘time’.

Now that would be quite some sight, wouldn’t it?

We’re not sure exactly how easy it is for the British broadcasters to simply secure permission to take a rowboat down one of the busiest and most famous waterways in the world, but you never know.

Here’s hoping they at least try to make something happen, anyway.

There’s been plenty of curious and comedic moments already this tournament, but for anyone who hasn’t yet watched Harry Kane’s post-match following the tense 3-2 thriller against Mexico, you really need to.

He was given the chance to chat to the media once again after his voice recovered, but let’s just say the memes that have already come from THAT interview are almost as memorable as the match itself.

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Featured Images — BBC Sport (screenshots)

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