Gary Lineker has fallen foul of the BBC’s impartiality rules with a tweet sent in February this year, the organisation has found.
The Match of the Day host is the corporation's highest-earning on-air figure - a status he has held for five years in a row - with a pay-packet north of £1.35m during the 2021-22 period. The tweet in question came in February, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and saw the former England striker question then-home secretary Liz Truss over comments about a potential boycott of the Champions League final
Lineker's comments were looked into by the BBC's executive complaints unit [ECU], which found they "did not meet the BBC's editorial standards on impartiality". According to the BBC, Lineker himself has declined to comment on the matter.
Back in February, after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, the 2022 Champions League final was the subject of headlines. At the time, the game was still due to be played in St Petersburg, and current Prime Minister Truss - at the time the home secretary - urged a boycott from English teams.
After reading a tweet mentioning the calls for a boycott, Lineker quoted it, adding the comment: "And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?" Lineker had argued it was a tweet about his professional field of sport, rather than politics, with reports claiming BBC sport managers noted the presenter had framed it as a question rather than a statement of opinion.
The Champions League final was ultimately taken away from St Petersburg, with Paris taking over as host city. Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the final, with the game overshadowed by scenes outside the Stade de France, the repercussions of which have continued months after the fixture.
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"Mr Lineker has pointed out to the ECU that the tweet was prompted by an article on football, and we accept that he intended it as a comment on football (which is his primary interest and area of expertise) rather than on politics," the ECU ruling reads. "The ECU also acknowledged the suggestion, by the management of BBC Sport, that the framing of Mr Lineker’s comment as a question might have limited the extent to which readers of the tweet would have understood it as a statement of opinion on a politically controversial matter.
"Whatever the mitigating effect of these factors, however, the ECU judged that they could not entirely erase the impression that one of its purposes was to highlight a perceived inconsistency in the Conservative Party’s approach, at a time when relations between the UK and Russia were the subject of significant public debate. For this reason, we found the tweet was in breach of the relevant Guidance and did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality."
The ruling also recognises that Lineker, due to his role, is not held to the same impartiality standards as BBC journalists. However, is is said to be among those who - per BBC guidance - "[have] an additional responsibility to the BBC because of their profile on the BBC."
The ruling has been discussed with Lineker, according to the ECU, while also being reported to the management of BBC Sport. It is not the first time the ex-footballer has used his Twitter account to comment on politicians and their actions.
Many of these comments, however, relate to sporting matters. In 2021, for example, Lineker hit out at then Prime Minister Boris Johnson over claims Brexit had a role to play in defeating proposals for a European super league, saying "Football fans and lovers of the game in this country saw off the European Super League, not politicians nor Brexit."
