Former England soccer captain Gary Lineker is about to depart his position presenting the BBC’s flagship Match of the Day highlights present on the finish of the season, BBC News reported.

The 63-year-old took over as host of the Saturday night time programme in 1999.

Taken off air

In March final yr, Lineker was briefly taken off air by bosses after evaluating the language used to launch a British authorities asylum coverage to the rhetoric of Nazi-era Germany on social media.

That sparked a row about BBC presenters expressing political opinions.

In solidarity with Lineker, plenty of fellow presenters and pundits together with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright refused to look on the programme, which means an episode was lowered to twenty minutes and aired with out its host, pundits and commentary. Lineker was reinstated simply over per week later

The former Leicester, Everton, Tottenham and Barcelona ahead has hosted refugees in his residence and has usually criticised authorities insurance policies, significantly on immigration.

Speculation mounted over Gary Lineker’s future

The BBC launched an impartial assessment of its social medial pointers, which really useful that high-profile presenters ought to have the ability to specific views on political points however ought to cease in need of campaigning on celebration politics or for activist organisations.

Speculation had been mounting over Lineker’s future since an interview with BBC Breakfast in August through which he mentioned he seemed ahead to “another year doing it, at least”.

Last week Lineker, who turns 64 on the finish of November, admitted he would “have to slow down at some point”, and intimated to Esquire journal that he could search to focus full-time on his profitable podcast enterprise.

In August 2016, Lineker made good on an earlier promise to current the present in his underpants after his boyhood membership Leicester gained the Premier League.

By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse