Gary Lineker sees plug pulled on final BBC interview with Mohamed Salah over fears England legend and Liverpool star would 'talk about Gaza'

Lineker had already announced that he would be stepping down as presenter of Match of the Day when the 2024-25 Premier League season comes to a close. According to The Sun, the England legend was supposed to interview Liverpool star Mohamed Salah one last time, but it was later cancelled amid fears that the duo would discuss the conflict in Gaza.

The former England international has been outspoken in recent years on the podcasts that he fronts and through his social media channels. In a recent Instagram post that led to his early departure from the BBC, Lineker shared a video about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat, which is historically considered to be an antisemitic insult. The 64-year-old apologised and deleted the post in question, claiming not to have intentionally shared the image.

A source told The Sun: "The plan was for the interview to be shown across the BBC the weekend of Gary’s final Match of the Day. That would include on Football Focus the day before as well as online and on social media. Out of nowhere, it got cancelled. Some people think they didn’t want Gary and Mo to talk about Gaza.

"Salah has spoken out in his support for Palestinians living in Gaza and Gary has made his feelings clear too. It felt like it may have come up naturally in conversation. It seems they axed it rather than risk possible editorial issues. They’d only just overcome one storm so to face another would have been a nightmare."

Following Lineker's exit from MOTD, Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan are set to fill in. The trio will be forming a three-person Premier League highlights presenting team from next season.