Lineker's tearful goodbye

GARY Lineker bid an emotional goodbye as he signed off hosting Match Of The Day after 26 years, saying it had been an "absolute privilege" and "utterly joyous" to front the show.

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The player-turned-pundit's early departure from the broadcaster follows a social media row after the 64-year-old shared a post about Zionism, which featured a depic-tion of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult.

He presented his final episode alongside fellow pundits, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, with whom he also hosts podcast The Rest Is Football, which is produced by his firm, Goalhanger Podcasts.

In his final message, Lineker said: "Rather like my football career, everyone else did all the hard work and I got the plaudits. It's been an absolute privilege to host Match Of The Day for a quarter of a century. It's been utterly joyous."