Gary Lineker’s final act: a long-running BBC saga with its predictable denouement

Gary Lineker finally departs the BBC after several skirmishes with the broadcaster. The BBC ‘wanted me to leave’, he recently disclosed in an interview. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

For a footballer who went through an entire career without receiving a yellow card, it may seem like an unlikely end.

On Sunday night, Gary Lineker will be dispatched from the BBC’s studios, having acknowledged making a serious error of judgment – and one that BBC insiders said had left his position untenable.