Gary Lineker REPLACED as host for today’s BBC FA Cup coverage after illness and ‘deteriorating overnight’
GARY LINEKER will NOT present the BBC’s FA Cup coverage today because he is struggling with illness.
The host, who made his return to screens yesterday following his BBC Twitter row, struggled with his voice during the Beeb’s coverage of Manchester City vs Burnley and “deteriorated overnight”.
Lineker, 62, had been due to host Brighton’s clash with League Two Grimsby Town this afternoon.
But the BBC have confirmed that he will be replaced by Football Focus presenter Alex Scott.
In a statement this morning, they confirmed: “Due to illness, we’ve got a line-up change for today’s live FA Cup coverage of Brighton v Grimsby on BBC One.
“As viewers will have noticed yesterday, Gary Lineker was struggling with his voice and unfortunately it has deteriorated overnight.
“Alex Scott will be hosting instead.”
Sun columnist Piers Morgan quickly made light of the situation, joking on Twitter: “BREAKING: Lineker’s free speech cancelled again.”
Yesterday’s broadcast marked Lineker’s first appearance on terrestrial telly since he was suspended after likening the language used in the government’s introduction of their controversial Illegal Migration Bill to that of 1930s Germany.
Ahead of his return, Lineker made a cheeky reference to the situation on his Twitter page.
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He wrote: “Ah the joys of being allowed to stick to football.”
Lineker’s removal from Match of the Day sparked a mutiny within BBC Sport.
Regular analysts and presenters including Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas, Alex Scott, Mark Chapman and Micah Richards refused to fill in, plunging the show into crisis.
The result was a 20 minute broadcast devoid of a host, analysis, commentary or interviews.
Due to curiosity of what the decimated show would look like, viewing figures soared by 500,000 to 2.58million.
But normal service has now been resumed after Lineker and the Beeb were able to settle their differences.
With Lineker hosting yesterday’s live match coverage, Mark Chapman presented Match of the Day.
Lineker posted a snap of himself alongside Shearer and Richards in the BBC’s Etihad Stadium studio yesterday.
He wrote: “Teammates. 
@alanshearer @MicahRichards.”
Last night Shearer said: “I want to say how upset we were that all the audiences missed out on last weekend.
“It was a really difficult situation for all concerned.
“For no fault of their own some great people in TV and radio were put in an impossible situation.
“It’s good to get back to some sort of normality and talk about football.”
And Lineker responded: “I echo those sentiments.”
