Gary Lineker explains little-known Match of the Day 'rule' which saw Alan Shearer slammed

Former Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has explained the little-known rule that caused Alan Shearer to receive backlash from fans online.

After a long 15 week summer break, the 2025/26 Premier League season kicked off last weekend with champions Liverpool beating Bournemouth 4-2 in the opening fixture of the season.

Of course, with the return of the Premier League, comes the return of the BBC's flagship football highlights series Match of the Day, which aired it's first show of the season on Saturday.

Given that Sunday's episode was the first without Lineker at the helm, fans have been eager to hear what the former England striker thought about the episode.

And when he spoke out to give his thoughts on the episode, Lineker also revealed that it was an official rule of the show can explain why Shearer was criticised by fans for his appearance on the show.

Gary Lineker was the face of Match of the Day for over two decades. (Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)

For the first episode of Match of the Day, new show host Mark Chapman was joined Shearer and Wayne Rooney to break down the biggest results of the opening days of the season.

Liverpool's win over Bournemouth, Manchester City's dominant 4-0 victory over Wolves and the drama surrounding Alexander Isak following Newcastle United's 0-0 draw with Aston Villa were just some of the topics covered in the first episode.

But it was the coverage of Sunderland's triumphant return to the top flight that led to Shearer receiving criticism from fans, as Micah Richards pointed out on the latest episode of The Rest is Football.

"Alan, when Sunderland was on, why didn't you do any of the analysis? Why did you leave it all to Wayne? You didn't say a word for about four minutes," asked the former Man City star.

However, Lineker, who hosted Match of the Day for 26 years, wasn't prepared to let his former co-host, as he revealed: "Micah, you know how it works!

"Wayne Rooney was given that game, you know how it works, stop trying to sit it up!"

Alan Shearer was criticised by Micah Richards for his punditry on Saturday's episode of MOTD. (Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

While Shearer quickly hit back at Richards, adding: "I'm more concerned about you by the way, how tight is that shirt on your arm?"

Match of the Day 2 aired on Sunday, hosted by Gabby Logan, with Kelly Cates also set to host episodes throughout the season.