PA MediaThis is a sorry end to a long BBC career. Gary Lineker was among the corporation’s highest-paid presenters for a reason – he is popular with audiences, knowledgeable and brilliant at his job.
But it’s an understatement to suggest he has also caused problems for his BBC bosses over the years, as their high-profile football host began to morph into a presenter with opinions that he voiced on social media.
In the end, those two things were increasingly in conflict.
This has always been about reputation management for the BBC. Lineker had already, in the eyes of BBC bosses, caused the corporation damage with previous social media posts. Mistakenly sharing a video about Zionism which included a rat emoji was the final straw.
It was difficult to see how he could continue presenting for the corporation, particularly at a time when the BBC is enmeshed in another controversy surrounding a documentary about Gaza, which it pulled after discovering the child narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
I think what’s different is that on this occasion, Lineker regrets his actions. He has appeared bullish about previous posts, saying that while he regretted damaging the BBC, he didn’t believe, for example, that comparing the language of a Conservative asylum policy to that of 1930s Germany was wrong.
Lineker is genuinely upset by what happened. He is mortified that he reposted the video. His relationship with the BBC is coming to an end in circumstances nobody would have wanted, but some might have predicted.
He seemed unable or unwilling to accept that his high profile might prevent him from voicing strongly-held views that many believed had an impact on the BBC’s need for impartiality.
We live increasingly in an age when people want to express their opinions, and often do. Social media has given everyone a platform, and high-profile media figures have huge followings.
He could not keep quiet. In the end, it brought him down.
But he is a successful podcast entrepreneur, owning a third of the shares in Goalhanger, the company behind hit shows including The Rest is History and The Rest is Politics.
I would also not be surprised if he does appear in the future on TV, perhaps even as a presenter of the World Cup for another outlet.
He has shown contrition, but it has been a damaging few days.