Gary Lineker to miss FA Cup coverage due to his voice ‘deteriorating’

Gary Lineker has cancelled his appearance on Match Of The Day Live due to illness, BBC Sport has said.

Lineker returned to presenting duties on Saturday after he was taken off air by the broadcaster last weekend over his comments comparing the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.

Former England player and presenter Alex Scott will be hosting the coverage of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final between Brighton & Hove Albion and Grimsby Town on BBC One from 1.50pm instead.

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. pic.twitter.com/qJGUxqW1oG

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 19, 2023

A post by BBC Sport on Twitter said: “Due to illness, we’ve got a line-up change… As viewers will have noticed yesterday, Gary Lineker was struggling with his voice and unfortunately it has deteriorated overnight.”

Following Lineker’s return to cover the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Burnley on Saturday alongside fellow England footballers-turned-pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, he said on air it was “great to be here”.

He also posted a photo of himself at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester and told his Twitter followers: “Ah the joys of being allowed to stick to football.”

Meanwhile, a refugee who lived with Lineker for 20 days while studying a law course spoke about his relationship with the 62-year-old former England striker.

Rasheed Baluch, from the mountainous Balochistan region which straddles Pakistan and Iran, told the Sunday Mirror the presenter