Gary Lineker ‘to join’ ITV as World Cup pundit in BBC blow | OneFootball

Gary Lineker is set to join ITV as a pundit for Saturday’s World Cup Group E match between Germany and Ivory Coast, according to The Independent. The move would see the former Match of the Day presenter link up with the BBC’s main rival little more than a year after leaving his role.

Lineker is currently in New York, presenting daily episodes of The Rest is Football for Netflix. After stepping down from Match of the Day, he was initially expected to feature on the BBC’s World Cup coverage, but he severed ties with the broadcaster in May last year.

The development comes amid scrutiny of studio plans, with the BBC based in Salford and ITV broadcasting from a rooftop with the New York skyline. In April, Lineker contrasted a virtual Salford setup he said he would have used with appearing in New York overlooking Times Square alongside guests.

BBC director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski responded that Salford is a new state-of-the-art studio and argued viewers would not notice a major difference. He also said doing everything from a studio in Dallas would be hard to justify on cost.

Earlier this week, Lineker praised ITV for avoiding three-minute in-game hydration pauses being used for adverts, unlike some other broadcasters. He added it might be tempting, and questioned the growing Americanisation of football.

Both teams won their Group E openers, Germany thrashing Curacao 7-1 and Ivory Coast defeating Ecuador 1-0, ahead of Saturday evening’s meeting.

Source: Leeds Live