Gary Lineker found in breach of BBC guidelines with Tory donors tweet

The BBC complaints department concluded that Lineker should be held to a higher standard than other sports employees due to his high profile. Photograph: Ian Walton/PA

The BBC has found Gary Lineker in breach of the broadcaster’s own impartiality guidelines after he tweeted about the Conservative party taking money from Russian donors.

The Match of the Day presenter made the comment in February while responding to the then-foreign secretary, Liz Truss. She had said English football teams should not play in the Champions League final then to be held in Russia, due to the invasion of Ukraine.