Gary Lineker says the BBC can't always be impartial and accuses bosses of being 'influenced too much by previous governments'
The former Match of the Day host, 65, stepped away from his role on the show in May amid a row over his airing of political opinions on social media.
Gary Lineker has claimed the BBC cannot always be impartial in an interview with leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski.
The former Match of the Day host, 65, stepped away from his role on the show in May amid a row over his airing of political opinions on social media.
While Lineker said he still sees the BBC as the most trusted news source, he claimed it is unrealistic to expect the broadcaster to never make mistakes.
He also admitted that perhaps at the top of the corporation there is a 'bit too much influence from previous governments'.
Lineker was speaking on the Bold Politics With Zack Polanski podcast which will be aired from 3pm on New Year's Eve.
He says: 'It's impossible to be impartial on everything. I had lots and lots of great times at the BBC. I loved the people that work there.
'I think at the top at the moment there's probably a bit too much influence from previous governments etc.
'I think they probably need to look at the way that at the top of the BBC that ultimately make the big decisions, and the influence that they have on certain things. But I still say that it's the most trusted news source.'
Gary Lineker has claimed the BBC cannot always be impartial in an interview with leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski
Green Party leader Zack Polanksi is seen outside BBC Broadcasting House in London in November
It comes after the ex-England footballer insisted that he should not have been forced out of the BBC in an interview earlier this month.
Speaking to The Standard, he said people 'recognised I did nothing untoward' and that his early exit was 'beautiful because everyone supported me'.
Lineker departed following a social media row after he shared a post about Zionism which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult.
The ex-England footballer said that he simply 'missed an emoji' and 'would never associate any group of people, any person, with a rodent'.
Lineker, earning £1.35million a year, issued an unreserved apology for the incident at the time and has now said he thought this 'should have been enough - but it wasn't'.
Asked if he paid a high price, he said: 'I don't think it's cost me anything. I've left the BBC, but that was beautiful, because everyone supported me.
'I think people recognised I did nothing untoward, that I was just factually correct, but it was tough.'
Lineker was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then-government's new asylum policy.