Gary Lineker has taken a swipe at the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup this summer, expressing relief that he won’t be ‘working from a green box in Salford’.
The broadcaster will not be based in the US for the tournament and has come in for criticism after deciding to direct operations from their HQ in Greater Manchester.
They are not planning to send television pundits to North America for the World Cup until the quarter-final stage in a bid to cut costs.
Lineker has fronted the BBC’s coverage for major football tournaments for years but this time around he will be hosting The Rest is Football podcast, which has been bought by Netflix for £14million.
He was axed by the BBC last May over his Instagram post about Zionism featuring a rat that ignited an antisemitism row.
The 64-year-old apologised, admitted his exit is ‘the responsible course of action’ and left without a payoff from his £1.4million-a-year salary.
Gary Lineker’s The Rest Is Football show has been bought by Netflix and he talked up being in New York for the World Cup rather than ‘a green box in Salford’
He will be in New York with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards for the duration of the tournament this summer and said at the launch of Netflix’s Sports Club: ‘I was originally going to do it for the BBC, this summer, but that didn’t transpire and I would have been in Salford in a green box and now I’m going to be in New York City overlooking Times Square with lots of great guests.’
He added: ‘With us — Alan, Micah and myself — we are also fans and we will all be cheering England, but sometimes when you care that much you are probably more critical of your own team than anybody else.
‘There was a bit of furore during the Euros when I said, “England played s***”. And they did. If I said England had played really poorly it wouldn’t have made headlines. I only said it because I cared because it was excruciating and England got lucky with their goal.
‘You have to tell it as it is and we continue to do that, and hopefully I won’t have to say anything like that.
Lineker’s World Cup show will stream every day of the World Cup on Netflix and also feature Alex Aljoe and Rob Jones, with a number of guests also taking part.
At the Netflix launch, Lineker was also asked about his relationship with Jose Mourinho and admitted he still does not know why the legendary manager has not spoken to him for more than a decade.
‘He’s up and down. I know that from my experience. Jose is fascinating. He used to text me all the time… “I love what you say on Match of the Day”… I had this relationship with him. Then it stopped. It stopped. That was it. To this day I don’t know what I said to upset him.
‘GQ asked me to present him with the sportsperson of the year award when he was at Chelsea. I said ‘of course I will’. This was after about six months of the silence.
Jose Mourinho is pictured with Lineker at a charity event back in 2005 at Stamford Bridge – the broadcaster says he still doesn’t know why the manager stopped talking to him
‘The day before I got a phone call saying “Jose actually would prefer it if it’s a non-football person that presents it”. I said “I’m still coming”.
‘So I went up to him and I asked him. I said “have we got a problem?” He said “no”. I said “you sure?” He went “no”. To this day I still don’t know. Maybe it was a bad joke or something.’
Mourinho, currently in charge at Benfica, has been linked with a sensational return to Real Madrid, with manager Alvaro Arbeloa under massive pressure at the Bernabeu.
The club have not won a trophy this season and it is looking increasingly likely that Mourinho might come back, a move Lineker thinks could well happen.
‘I think there’s every chance he might end up being the next Real Madrid manager,’ Lineker added
‘I think there’s a really good chance. I know the president really loves him.’
