Why isn’t Gary Lineker presenting BBC Sports Personality of the Year tonight?

Viewers may have spotted a first at this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, with the annual event hosted by an all-female line-up for the first time in its history.

Alex Scott, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan are once again on co-presenting duty at Salford’s MediaCityUK, where Keely Hodgkinson, Luke Littler, Jude Bellingham, Joe Root, Dame Sarah Storey and Alex Yee are battling it out for the coveted prize.

Twelve months ago, Lionesses goalkeeper Mary Earps came out on top, seeing off competition from the likes of Stuart Broad and Katarina Johnson-Thompson, to become only the second female footballer to lift the award after Beth Mead.

Former England and Arsenal footballer Scott – a familiar face to BBC viewers – joined the SPOTY presenting team back in 2020 and the line-up remained unchanged in the three years following her arrival.

But there is one glaring omission from this evening’s glitzy ceremony and it comes in the shape of Gary Lineker, who was – in many ways – the face of the programme across his 23 years working on the show.

It was revealed last month that Lineker had stepped down from the role – which came following the news that the ex-England striker would depart as the host as Match of the Day at the end of the season.

‘Gary Lineker has stepped down as co-presenter of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, following the news that he will leave Match of the Day,’ the BBC confirmed, adding, ‘after 23 years, last year’s 70th anniversary was his final show.’

While Lineker will no longer be hosting Sports Personality of the Year or the weekly Match of the Day programme, he will stay on with the BBC through to the 2026 World Cup. The 63-year-old will also front the channel’s coverage of next year’s FA Cup.

In addition, Lineker will continue working on the MOTD Top Ten podcast, in which he features alongside pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

‘I’m delighted to continue my long association with BBC Sport and would like to thank all those who made this happen,’ Lineker said of the decision last month.

Lineker’s increasingly strained relationship with the BBC had been well documented in the months leading up to his departure from hosting duties with Match of the Day and Sports Personality of the Year.

In March 2023, Lineker took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to launch a scathing attack on the government’s refugee policy, which saw the the former Three Lions star taken off air.

Lineker would later return to TV screens following a boycott involving many of his BBC colleagues in solidarity with the ex-Tottenham and Barcelona forward during his suspension.

However, Alex Kay-Jelski’s appointment as BBC Sport’s new director signalled a drastic change in approach, with the corporation looking to freshen up several areas of their sporting coverage going forward.

It has since become clear that Kelly Cates will leave Sky Sports at the end of the season to join the BBC’s new three-person Match of the Day presenting team, alongside Logan and Mark Chapman – the current host of Match of the Day 2.

It comes just weeks after Cates – the daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish – had distanced herself from speculation that she could be set to succeed Lineker on the BBC’s flagship football programme.

‘Do you know, and you never want to say this, but at the moment I’ve got a really lovely mix of everything,’ Cates told The Independent.

‘I’ve got TV, live matches, radio, and when it gets towards the end of the season I do live Champions League games, too. I could be at an Olympics or a World Cup during the summer so the balance of everything feels really nice. But I’m not tempting fate.’

Middle-distance runner Hodgkinson is the bookmakers’ favourite (1/4) to get her hands on the main award at this evening’s star-studded ceremony following her extraordinary gold-medal triumph in the women’s 800m at the Paris Games.

Darts wonderkid Littler is the second-favourite (11/4) after his record-breaking heroics on the oche, while Bellingham and Storey are viewed as outside bets (100/1) for this year’s prestigious prize – which is decided by a public vote.

As well as the main award, seven other prizes will be dished out across the night, including the Young Sports Personality of the Year, the Lifetime Achievement award and the Team of the Year.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

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