Gary Lineker ‘to join’ ITV’s World Cup coverage in blow to BBC | OneFootball

Gary Lineker is expected to appear as an ITV pundit this weekend, with The Independent reporting he will join Saturday evening’s Group E match between Germany and Ivory Coast.

The former Match of the Day host is currently in New York recording daily episodes of The Rest is Football for Netflix. The Mirror notes the move would see him working for the BBC’s direct rivals just over a year after cutting ties.

After his Match of the Day exit, an initial plan had him staying on the BBC’s World Cup coverage. That changed when a full break with the broadcaster was confirmed in May last year.

The BBC have faced criticism for basing their World Cup studio in Salford rather than in America, while ITV are broadcasting from a New York rooftop. In April, he remarked that a planned BBC role would have left him in a Salford studio, whereas he would now be in New York overlooking Times Square with guests.

BBC director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski responded that the Salford facility was a state-of-the-art studio, and said viewers’ experience would be little different. He also argued a fully US-based operation would have been hard to justify on cost.

Earlier this week, Lineker praised ITV on The Rest is Football for not using three-minute hydration breaks to insert adverts, suggesting the trend reflected the corporate, Americanised direction of the sport.

Source: LeicesterMercury.co.uk