Gary Lineker will not present Match of the Day tonight

'I've been silenced'

The 63-year-old former footballer and longtime host of MOTD took to Twitter to confirm that he would not be presenting tonight's show.

Lineker joked that he had been silenced, writing: "Some good news for some. I’ve been silenced….with a rotten cold that seems to be lasting forever. Hate missing hosting @BBCMOTD but I’ll be watching."

Match of the Day's replacement will be Mark Chapman who'll be highlighting the key points of the games between Everton and City, and Liverpool and Burnley.

Match of the Day has been a staple of English football since it was first broadcast way back in 1964.

Last year Lineker famously criticised the British government's asylum policy on Twitter, comparing it to the same policies used in "Germany in the 30s".

Soon after, the BBC said that Lineker would be stepping back from his job on Match of the Day because it considered "his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines".

It added it had "decided Lineker will not present Match of the Day until there's an agreed and clear position on his use of social media".

As a result, many other presenters stood down in solidarity with Lineker causing the broadcaster to reduce their sports-related schedules for two days.

Lineker's suspension was soon ended with the BBC announcing that they would launch an independent review into its social media guidelines.

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