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WATCH: 'Financial incentives!' Tom Harwood details Gary Lineker move that ‘suits all parties’
Apr 22, 2025
GB News commentator Tom Harwood has claimed that Gary Lineker had "financial incentives" to leave the BBC, following the presenter's admission that the corporation wanted him to step down from presenting Match of the Day.Lineker revealed in a BBC interview with Amol Rajan that he felt the broadcaster preferred him to leave the flagship football programme after 25 years.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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0:00
as he was negotiating a new contract
0:02
So he sensed the mood had changed with regards to him. Yes, dear old Gary has been criticised by a number of people in the past
0:11
for expressing political views online, with Lineker describing the impartiality row with the BBC as a lover's tip
0:19
Let's have a listen. Perhaps they want me to leave. Is that a sense you've got
0:27
There was a sense of that, yeah. But would you have stayed if you could have stayed
0:32
Would you have liked to have stayed? No, I always wanted one more contract
0:36
I think it was their preference that I didn't do much of the day for one more year
0:42
So, did the BBC attempt to push Gary Lineker out? I think probably, yes
0:46
I think Gary's probably right with his assessment there that the BBC probably wanted to get rid of him
0:51
He cost a huge amount of money and he was causing a lot of headaches. I mean, remember, he called the government's asylum..
0:55
Well, he likened the government's asylum policy to 1930s Germany, didn't he
1:01
He had a lot to say about Suella Braverman as well as Home Secretary
1:05
Yeah, and it's not about holding sort of personal political views. And it's not about..
1:11
I mean, I'm sure there are lots of people who have taken in a refugee, as Gary Lineker did for a few weeks
1:16
But I think the bigger thing is the way in which Lineker
1:21
wanted to be a political figure online. getting into arguments and debates so openly
1:30
but also being so high profile as the face of the BBC
1:34
Yeah, he was... I mean, it just does not match. Absolutely. I mean, he's a member of the sort of left-wing commentary act, definitely
1:42
Some might say even far left But he did address the comparison he made between the government asylum policy in 1930s Germany He said I don regret saying them publicly because I was right
1:53
What I said, it was accurate, so not at all in that sense. However, he acknowledged the fallout from his comments
2:00
Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No, I wouldn't because all of the nonsense that came with it
2:04
So he doesn't regret the comments because he believes them to be true
2:09
but he regrets sort of what happened afterwards. and he says, I love the BBC and I didn't like the damage that it did to the BBC
2:15
but do I regret it and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No. He's a little bit confused there
2:19
Not sure what he regrets and what he doesn't. But here's the thing. If you are such a high-profile presenter on a publicly funded broadcasting organisation
2:30
of course the organisation is going to have a say over what you say online
2:36
Of course the organisation could be reputationally damaged by your behaviour outside the world of the programme that you do
2:43
Of course that's the case. I think maybe a bigger thing here, though
2:47
is that Gary Lineker runs a very successful podcast company. Yes. And he's absolutely coining it
2:54
probably on a lot more money than even the millions that the BBC was giving him. Is that the technical term? Coining it
2:59
Coining it, certainly. So I think perhaps there were economic incentives for him to move on and do his own thing
3:07
as that's sort of where the world of broadcast is going. Oh, so you think the timing was right anyway
3:12
I think it probably was... Suited all parties. Yeah, I think it suited all the parties
3:17
But previously the BBC said, after a quarter of a century, Gary is stepping down from hosting Match of the Day
3:23
at the end of this season. We will continue with Match of the Day Top Ten podcast
3:28
and the BBC will also host the hugely popular The Rest Is Football podcast on BBC Sound
3:33
Oh, yes, I think
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