Gary Lineker is set to make a surprise appearance on ITV as a World Cup pundit, just over a year after cutting ties with the BBC. The former Match of the Day host will feature in ITV's coverage of Saturday night's Group E encounter between Germany and Ivory Coast.
Lineker is currently in New York, where he presents daily episodes of The Rest is Football for Netflix. However, according to The Independent, he will now join ITV for the World Cup match, working for the BBC's direct competitors.
The initial arrangement following his departure as host of Match of the Day was for him to continue with the BBC for their FA Cup and World Cup coverage. But the decision to sever ties entirely was confirmed in May last year, just before his exit from Match of the Day.
This development follows criticism of the BBC's World Cup studio, which is located in Salford, England, rather than in North America, where the tournament is being staged. ITV, by contrast, are based in a rooftop studio with the iconic New York skyline as a backdrop.
Back in April, Lineker appeared to take a swipe at the BBC regarding the studio setup. "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 said.
That prompted a response from the BBC's director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski. "It's not a green box in Salford. It's a beautiful state-of-the-art studio. No one's seen it until now. It's completely fine to assume that what was there before was what it was going to be. And I'm really proud of this."
"The actual end product people are getting at home, I don't really think it's that different," Kay-Jelski added. "If these people were sitting somewhere else, would your viewing be massively changed?"
"If I was standing here saying, 'Everything is going to be done from a studio in Dallas', you would rightly be saying to me, 'How can you justify that spend?'"
Earlier this week, Lineker praised ITV for resisting the temptation to use the controversial three-minute hydration breaks in each half to cut to commercial breaks, unlike some other broadcasters. "I want to give, actually, ITV a pat on the back here, because I think they could have taken that option, I don't know, but they're not," he said on The Rest is Football.
"So, you know, well done for not doing that, ITV, because I'm sure it would be tempting. Is it the corporate world that we're living in, in football now, the Americanisation of our sport, possibly?"
Both Germany and the Ivory Coast secured victories in their opening Group E fixtures. Germany thrashed Curacao 7-1, while the Ivory Coast snatched a late winner to edge past Ecuador 1-0.
