BBC rules Gary Lineker DID break impartiality – Gary Lineker did break BBC impartiality rules with a social media post criticising the Tories, the broadcaster’s complaints team has today ruled.
The Match of the Day host, 61, used Twitter to quote an article about Liz Truss – then the Foreign Secretary – urging Premier League teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia.
In his post, the former England striker, who has more than 8.5million followers on Twitter, added: ‘And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?’.
The final was due to be held in St Petersburg earlier this year. But following Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine – and a wave of pressure both from sports stars and politicians – UEFA moved the showpiece game to Paris.
Today the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) revealed it had upheld a complaint against Lineker over his Tweet.
The board said the outspoken presenter’s social media post ‘did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality’.
When asked if the presenter, who was paid £1.35million by the broadcaster last year, wanted to comment on the decision, the star’s representatives simply replied: ‘No’.
The Match of the Day host, 61, used Twitter to quote a post about Liz Truss – then the Foreign Secretary – urging Premier League teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia
The Match of the Day host, 61, used Twitter to quote a post about Liz Truss (pictured) – then the Foreign Secretary – urging Premier League teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia
Lineker, who is the BBC’s best paid star, has often avoided being ticked-off by the BBC despite him being openly critical of the Conservative-led Government and the Tory party.
The BBC has always argued that the ex-Leicester City star is not required to uphold the same high standards of impartiality expected of its journalists.
However, earlier this year, one Lineker’s BBC colleagues raised concerns about his Tweets, sparking a debate on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the BBC’s director general was also forced to address the star’s Twitter posts, saying Lineker’s social media was ‘a work in progress’.
Today, in its ruling, the ECU said that Lineker, who has been the highest paid BBC presenter for the last five years, was ‘one of the BBC’s highest profile stars’.
The board said that, while the presenter is not required to uphold the same high standards of impartiality as the broadcaster’s journalists, he does have an ‘additional responsibility’ because of his profile.
The ruling said: ‘We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters.’
The board said that Lineker had, as part of its inquiry, pointed out that the Tweet was about football – his primary area of expertise.
And, according to the BBC, the board accepted that Lineker’s Tweet was intended as a comment ‘on sport rather than politics and was presented ‘in the form of a question’ rather than a statement.
Earlier this year, Lineker’s tweets were described as a ‘work in progress’ by BBC director General Tim Davie.
It came after the ex-footballer criticised politicians over the level of sewage allowed to be pumped into rivers and into the sea during storms.
Mr Davie, 55, told the parliamentary select committee on digital, culture, media and sport in September that he backed Lineker and argued he worked within BBC guidelines.
Mr Davie said: ‘I’ve talked to Gary. He has sent thousands of tweets, and overall the behaviour – in terms of where he is – is in a lot better state. That conversation goes on
BBC director general Tim Davie, 55, insisted the BBC was doing a ‘pretty good job’ of maintaining impartiality
BBC journalist Neil Henderson apologised after he questioned Gary Lineker’s impartiality following his Tweet about sewage
‘I’m very supportive of Gary. I think he’s a brilliant presenter, and it’s a work in progress in terms of where he draws the line.
‘But we’ve had a good conversation and I think he understands the guidelines.’
Lineker attracted attention last month when he tweeted about the levels of sewage in Britain’s waterways and criticised politicians.
He tweeted: ‘As a politician how could you ever, under any circumstances, bring yourself to vote for pumping sewage into our seas? Unfathomable!’
The tweet drew an angry response from BBC journalist Neil Henderson, who accused Lineker of breaching impartiality rules.
However, Mr Henderson later deleted his reply and apologised to the football star.
MPs questioned Mr Davie over the incident, Conservative Steve Brine arguing political opinions were outside Lineker’s remit as a BBC broadcaster.
Mr Brine said: ‘We’re paying Gary Lineker £1.35 million a year – he’s down ten grand on last year but I’m sure he’ll get by when his energy bill comes in.
‘He’s a brilliant pundit on football, but I don’t care what he thinks about water quality.’
Mr Davie argued Match of the Day pundit Lineker had softened his views on party politics when it came to Twitter in recent years.
He said: ‘I think we’ve seen a massive improvement to where he was a few years ago in terms of his entry into party politics.
‘Banning people completely from getting into any issues-based tweeting is probably the wrong position.’
