Gary Lineker set for ITV World Cup pundit look in main BBC blow
The feud between the BBC and Gary Lineker continues to deepen as The Rest Is Football host traded barbs with a boss of the national broadcaster
Gary will appear on ITV(Image: Getty)
Gary Lineker is reportedly set to join ITV as a pundit for the World Cup this weekend. The former Match of the Day host is currently in New York, where he’s presenting daily episodes of The Rest is Football for Netflix.
However, according to The Independent, he’s now slated to appear on ITV as a pundit for Saturday night’s Group E showdown between Germany and Ivory Coast. This move sees him switching sides to the direct competitors of the BBC, just over a year after parting ways with his previous employers.
The initial plan following his departure from Match of the Day was for him to continue working with the BBC for their World Cup coverage. However, the decision to sever all ties with the national broadcaster was announced in May last year.
This development comes in the wake of criticism levelled at the BBC for their World Cup studio location in Salford, England, rather than in America where the tournament is being held. In contrast, ITV are broadcasting from a rooftop studio boasting an impressive backdrop of the New York skyline.
Lineker even appeared to hit out at the BBC’s choice of location. He said back in April: “I was originally going to do it for the BBC, this summer, but that didn’t transpire and I would have been in Salford in a green box and now I’m going to be in New York City overlooking Times Square with lots of great guests.”
In response, BBC’s director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski said: “It’s not a green box in Salford. It’s a beautiful state-of-the-art studio. No one’s seen it until now.
“It’s completely fine to assume that what was there before was what it was going to be. And I’m really proud of this.”
“The actual end product people are getting at home, I don’t really think it’s that different. If these people were sitting somewhere else, would your viewing be massively changed?
Kay-Jelski added: “If I was standing here saying, ‘Everything is going to be done from a studio in Dallas’, you would rightly be saying to me, ‘How can you justify that spend?'”
And earlier this week, Lineker moved to praise ITV for not using the controversial three-minute hydration breaks in each half of games to cut to advert breaks. He said: “I want to give, actually, ITV a pat on the back here, because I think they could have taken that option, I don’t know, but they’re not.”
