Gabby Logan hits again at Gary Lineker for mocking BBC’s World Cup protection plan
Gabby Logan has fired back at Gary Lineker over the BBC’s plan to let pundits cover the World Cup from a ‘green box in Salford’. Lineker, who was last year axed from his £1.35million-a-year job as the Beeb’s highest-paid star, taunted his ex-bosses for refusing to let stars broadcast from the US until the last week of the tournament.
He boasted his exit – following a controversial social media post about Israel – had freed him up to spend the World Cup in New York with ‘lots of great guests’.
But Gabby said the football pundits’ home fixture was a cost effective way of covering the soccer showpiece while being responsible with folks’ licence fees.
She said the quality of the broadcaster’s content would not stop them winning awards. Gabby said: “We did the Women’s Euros – last Euros – like this where we were in the studio in Salford and then we went out for the latter stages.
“That’s a very expensive cost to take out a lot of people to major tournaments. So we have to think about that. The belt is being tightened all the time, as you know, with the licence fee. So there’s lots of good reasons why we do that.
“And I think our coverage has been exceptional in those tournaments and award-winning in the case of last week’s Baftas so I don’t think it’s harmed our coverage to not be there for the whole tournament.”
Ex-Match Of The Day host Lineker said he does not regret missing out on anchoring the BBC’s World Cup coverage. He told the London launch of Netflix’s Sports Club: “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.”
Gabby will be part of a star-studded team of presenters and pundits for the BBC during the tournament. They will include ex-England internationals Wayne Rooney, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer, Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Steph Houghton, Ellen White and Danny Murphy.
Representing Scotland, who will play at their first World Cup since 1998, will be Scott Brown, Rachel Corsie and James McFadden. Other football stars signed up by the Beeb include Olivier Giroud, Gael Clichy, Cesar Azpilicueta, Benni McCarthy and Lucas Leiva.
They will be joined by ex-Spurs and Brentford boss Thomas Frank and former Wales captain Ashley Williams. Former referee Darren Cann will provide insight on all the big decisions across the United States, Canada and Mexico. He featured in the BBC’s FA Cup final coverage on Saturday.
