Gary Lineker is to leave Match Of The Day after 25 years, Sky News understands.

The former England striker will step down at the end of the current football season in May 2025.

It is understood he will stay at the BBC until the end of the next World Cup which is being held in the US, Mexico and Canada in 2026.

Lineker has hosted the Premier League highlights show since 1999, after his predecessor Des Lynam moved to ITV.

Lineker was briefly removed from Match Of The Day in March 2023 following controversy over comments he made on social media criticising the then Conservative government’s asylum policies.

The row prompted the BBC to launch an independent review of its social media guidelines and Lineker returned to screens soon after.

But the 63-year-old may stay on at the BBC after 2026 working on podcasts – an area where Lineker has been hugely successful in recent years.

The presenter is the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, which produces popular shows The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics and The Rest Is Entertainment.

The company, founded in 2014, claims to be the UK’s largest independent podcast firm, and said in September that its podcasts had been downloaded more than 380 million times so far this year.

Lineker presents his own footballing podcast with Goalhanger, The Rest Is Football, alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Lineker has been the BBC’s highest-paid star in recent years for his work on shows including Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year, as well as coverage of major tournaments including World Cups and European Championships.

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He received around £1.35m during the 2023-24 financial year, according to the BBC’s most recent figures.

The corporation has said it is not commenting on the matter.

It is unclear who will take over from Lineker on Match Of The Day. Former Tottenham Hotspur footballer Jermaine Jenas was considered to be his natural successor but he was sacked from the BBC in August over claims of inappropriate behaviour.

Ex Labour communications chief Alastair Campbell, who presents The Rest Is Politics with former Conservative MP Rory Stewart, said Lineker would be “a very hard act to follow”.

“He is an excellent broadcaster and a very good guy,” Campbell told Sky News.

The political commentator also joked that Lineker “sees me as his natural successor… as long as I’m allowed to wear my Burnley ties”.

Before moving into broadcasting, Lineker enjoyed a successful career as a striker, winning 80 caps for England. He also played for Leicester City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona.

A Premier League referee has been suspended after a video appeared to show him making derogatory comments about Liverpool Football Club and their former manager.

In the footage, David Coote uses an expletive to describe former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp left Liverpool in the summer after almost nine years in charge of the Merseyside club.

In the clip, Coote also appears to describe Liverpool FC as “shit”.

Refereeing body the PGMOL said: “David Coote has been suspended with immediate effect pending a full investigation. PGMOL will be making no further comment until that process is complete.”

In the clip, Coote is described as having been the fourth official during a match involving Liverpool FC.

Asked what he thought of the game, he says: “Liverpool were shit.”

When asked what he thinks of Klopp, he replies: “Erm ****. Absolute ****.”

Asked why he would describe the German manager in that way, he continues: “Aside from having a right pop at me when I reffed them against Burnley in lockdown.

“Then he accused me of lying, then just had a right f****** pop at me. And I’ve got no interest in speaking to someone who is f****** arrogant.

“So I do my best not to speak to him.”

He later suggests that he likes former Liverpool player James Milner – describing him as “alright”.

In a second clip shared online, Coote says: “Just to be clear, that f****** last video can’t go anywhere.”

Another man in the clip says “he’s a Premier League referee” before adding: “Let’s not ruin his career.”

Coote officiated Liverpool’s most recent Premier League game – a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday night.

He was criticised by some fans after Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was brought down by Aston Villa player Leon Bailey.

Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez went on to score after play wasn’t stopped – but a replay showed Coote had chosen not to stop the game because he believed the challenge on Salah wasn’t a foul rather than because he wanted the Reds to keep their advantage.

Coote also played a part in a controversial decision not to award Liverpool a penalty during their Premier League match against Arsenal in December 2023.

Referee Chris Kavanagh didn’t give a penalty after the ball made contact with Martin Odegaard’s hand in the penalty area.

Coote, as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), confirmed the on-field decision.

However referees’ chief Howard Webb later said this was the wrong call and that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty.

Sky Sports News understands Liverpool are aware of the video circulating, but won’t be commenting while an investigation is under way.

The defence secretary has insisted Donald Trump is committed to NATO and is right to push other European nations to put more funding into the security alliance.

John Healey dismissed suggestions the US president-elect will pull out of NATO, the military alliance consisting of 30 European countries and the US and Canada, after previous reports Mr Trump has discussed doing so.

Mr Healey told Sky News: “I don’t expect the US to turn away from NATO.

“They recognise the importance of the alliance, they recognise the importance of avoiding further conflict in Europe.

“But, I do say, and I’ve argued for some time, that the European nations in NATO need to do more of the heavy lifting.”

He added that Mr Trump “rightly pushed European nations to do more to fund NATO better”.

The defence secretary said the US commitment to NATO remained through the previous Trump administration and he has no reason to think that support will discontinue during his second term.

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Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO and complained about the US contributing too much of its budget to the alliance while accusing European countries of spending too little on defence.

During the election campaign, he said the US would only help defend NATO members from a future attack by Russia if they met their spending obligations.

Members pledged to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024, with 23 of the 32 countries expected to do so by the end of the year.

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Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, is the biggest spender at 4.1% of GDP, Estonia is second with 3.4% and the US is third with 3.4%.

The UK comes ninth on the list, reaching 2.3% of GDP under the previous Conservative government.

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Mr Healey said his government has committed to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence but did not give a timeline for that goal to be reached.

He said Labour was starting to make good on their promise by increasing defence spending by £3bn next year.

“That’s a sign of a government that recognises the first duty of any government is to defend the country and keep our citizens safe,” he added.

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Mr Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the American’s win, and told him not to escalate the war in Ukraine, according to The Washington Post and Reuters, although the Kremlin denied the phone call took place on Monday.

Several sources familiar with the call told them the president-elect reminded Mr Putin of the US’s sizeable military presence in Europe and discussed the goal of peace on the continent.