Gary Lineker has said the BBC has “tied themselves up in knots” over its impartiality rules, as the corporation continues to face scrutiny following a controversy over an edited clip of President Donald Trump.
The former Match of the Day presenter, who left the BBC in May after 26 years, reflected on the corporation’s struggles in a new interview with the London Standard, out on Thursday, December 4.
His departure followed a storm over a social-media post in which he re-shared a video titled Zionism explained in two minutes. The clip included an image of a rat, a widely recognised antisemitic trope, which Lineker later said he had not seen.
At the time, Lineker stressed he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic” and “apologised unreservedly”.
Despite that apology, the 64-year-old stepped down before what was due to be his final major BBC commitment — presenting next summer’s World Cup.
It was not his first clash with the broadcaster’s impartiality standards.
In March 2023, Lineker was briefly suspended after criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policy, a decision that sparked a high-profile walkout by MOTD staff.
The issue returned to the fore this month when director-general Tim Davie resigned alongside head of news Deborah Turness amid a series of crises, including a Panorama episode that selectively edited remarks made by Donald Trump ahead of the 2021 Capitol attack.
The programme is now at the centre of a political storm, with Trump threatening to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion.
The row escalated after a leaked memo from former external adviser Michael Prescott raised concerns about impartiality inside the corporation.
The BBC’s chief content officer, Charlotte Moore, and head of editorial policy, David Jordan, have also come under pressure.
Asked whether he sympathised with the BBC over its handling of the Trump saga, Lineker told the London Standard: “The BBC is still the most trusted and respected media organisation on the planet.
“I don’t know what led them to do what they did. They didn’t even need to. I suspect it was just some kind of error. I can’t imagine anyone thinking, ‘If we put that there it makes him look worse.’”
He added: “It's very difficult for the BBC and I’ve always felt that way. There are thousands of brilliant people working there but they've tied themselves up in knots a little bit with their impartiality rules.
“If you've got 50 people telling you the earth is round and one telling you it’s flat, you have to have the one saying it’s flat for balance. And if there is any partiality of the BBC, it's not decision-making people.
“They're just people doing their job. The only place it's probably a bit partial is the board, because the board is always elected, mostly by the government, and that's something that I think needs looking at. At the moment there’s massive influence and Tim Davie’s paid the price.”
Read the full interview in this week’s The London Standard on newsstands and online from Thursday, December 4
