Rumours of hope that Lineker might be booted from his role at the BBC on Match of the Day have been swirling, despite the BBC trying to brush off the move. One hack from the Daily Mail thought they’d hear it from the horse’s mouth, doorstepping the ex-footballer in his cushy south-west London home. True to form, the ex-footballer showed his usual charm, telling the journalist to “f**k off” and “go away.” A bit off-side…

Lineker’s contract with the BBC is due to expire next summer, meaning the show could have a new host within the next 12 months. The BBC released a statement saying: “we have not agreed next steps with regard to his contract. He is under contract until the end of the season.” Not exactly a denial he may be subbed off when the whistle blows…

BBC presenter Gary Lineker has complained that Elon Musk has forced him to “change his habits” when it comes to posting on X, whining to The Independent that “I don’t really post my thoughts now because I think it has become not a very pleasurable experience.” Shame…

Lineker continued his whinge, saying that he can no longer “banter” (whatever that looked like) on the platform thanks to Musk’s changes. A reminder that Lineker was actually suspended from Match of the Day after his Tory bashing diatribe. Perhaps the presenter refraining from parroting his political views has more to do with that than with the tech tycoon…

Guido doesn’t quite understand the messaging with this slogan-on-the-side-of-a-Volkswagen-camper-van protest outside the BBC today. It was moved on by the police, “you can’t park that here”…

UPDATE:  Daniel Confino gets in touch to tell Guido that in his view, with his recent Hamas sympathetic tweets, Lineker is prostituting himself to further his financial interests in the Middle East. Hence the BBC is his pimp. Clear?

The BBC’s new chairman said before Christmas that Gary Lineker’s ranting tweets were in breach of BBC guidelines – Guido wonders what he’ll make of more recent activity. Lineker retweeted a post from the “Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel” calling for all global sporting authorities to ban Israeli participation. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Lineker “has a lot to say about a lot of things, but anti-Semitism does not appear to be one of them”…

At least the retweet has landed well somewhere. The Hamas-run Quds News Network, which has been suspended on almost all social media platforms for its militant propaganda, has celebrated the move from “renowned English sports broadcaster and former footballer”. Judge a man by his friends…

The BBC’s new chairman has just said Gary Lineker’s Twitter diatribe is in breach of BBC rules. Samir Shah, who the government picked as the new chairman last week, is at his pre-appointment hearing with the DCMS committee this morning. When asked about Lineker’s conduct Shah said that his recent tweet suggesting Jonathan Gullis can’t read breaks the BBC’s social media guidelines on impartiality. Maybe Gary needs to take some classes…

The rule in question can be found in Section 4B, Point 2 of the BBC’s social media rules: “Don’t criticise the character of individual politicians in the UK“. Shah told the committee “I would imagine that the BBC is now looking into that and considering its response“. Another weak slap on the wrist on the way for Gary…

The BBC has announced new impartiality rules for its top stars, following the long drawn-out review by John Hardie after Gary Lineker’s Tory-bashing tweets earlier this year. It will surprise absolutely no one that they’ve backed down, and will now allow non-news presenters to be as partisan as they like, so long as they “stop short of political campaigning”. It is not clear how they’ll decide what ‘political campaigning’ looks like. Presumably whatever Gary Lineker says won’t count…

Hardie said:

“High-profile presenters outside of journalism should be able to express views on issues and policies – including matters of political contention – but stop well short of campaigning in party politics or for activist organisations.”

Tim Davie added:

“We all have a responsibility to treat people with civility and respect, particularly at a time when public debate and discussion, both on and offline, can be so polarised. The BBC also has important commitments to both freedom of expression and impartiality – and this rightly extends to social media.”

Lineker is obviously onboard, saying the new rules are “all very sensible“. He will push those rules to the absolute limits…