The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) has finally ruled that Gary Lineker broke impartiality rules in a tweet attacking the Tories and their apparent “Russian donors.” This is the same Gary Lineker who, according to BBC Director General Tim Davie, “understands the guidelines” and had supposedly learnt to play by the rules by now. Apparently not.

Here’s the tweet Lineker posted in February to his 8 million followers:

And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors? https://t.co/1QCzcmAGOF

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 23, 2022

The ECU has now upheld the complaint against him, and declared the tweet “did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality,” and they expect stars like Lineker “to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters.” 

Tim Davie has previously warned that those who break the BBC’s social media rules could be forced to give up their profiles. Guido would put the odds of that happening to Gary at approximately zero…