BBC anchor Gary Lineker aimed a jab at ITV over their Euro 2024 coverage.
As in every major football tournament, the UK coverage is being divided between the BBC and ITV, with former England forward and Match of the Day host Lineker the former’s lead anchor, and the latter being headed by Laura Woods.
Speaking on his podcast, the Rest is Football, BBC pundit Micah Richards asked after the viewing figures for England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia on Sunday.
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"How many watched on the BBC? Do you know? Have you got the figures? What is this rivalry between ITV and BBC," the former Manchester City defender asked.
Lineker responded: "For me, I got over that a long time ago. I don't really care as we alternate games between us, and obviously, there is a bit of rivalry because we're competitive people, but how do you judge that?
“Do you judge it by the amount of people who watch a game? Because if England are playing then you get more viewers and they're only on one channel and everyone will watch it regardless of whether it's on the BBC or ITV."
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Lineker added that he feels a tinge of competitiveness regarding which channel brings the most viewers for a major final.
"I got over that a long time ago but there is one thing, both BBC and ITV show the final,” he added. “We are sporting people, we are competitive so that is a little competition but it's not important."
Richards then played down the feud, alluding to his fellow pundits and friends at ITV.
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He said: "We do like ITV though don't we? With Keano (Roy Keane) and Wrighty (Ian Wright) – we don't need to have that rivalry."
Lineker concurred, only to aim a cheeky jab at his ITV rivals.
"They're really good," the ‘86 World Cup Golden Boot winner insisted: "English television does football very well, ITV do it brilliantly – we do it slightly better."
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Topics: Euro 2024, Gary Lineker, Micah Richards, England
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