Having various pundits on various shows can be beneficial. Having guests who have vast amount of experience can greatly contribute to the match/es. However, despite being special guests on a particular show, that doesn't mean that they are immune to any trouble. They are as human as everyone else. As such, they can get into trouble. There are instances of this occuring.
As of late, Jermain Jenas has been fired by the BBC. This came after allegations of workplace behaviour. He was part of The One Show and football highlights programme, Match Of The Day, Match of the Day 2 and Radio 5 Live. The allegations also included digital communications such as texts, which were raised with the corporation a few weeks ago.
In an e-mail to employees, the BBC said, "I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working for the BBC." As news of the sacking broke, Jenas was presenting a drive time programme on talkSPORT radio with fellow former footballer, Jermaine Pennant.
He last presented The One Show in mid-July and last appeared on Match of the Day in May.
Jenas made his footballing debut at 17 for Nottingham Forest and went on to play for Newcastle, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Queens Park Rangers. He also made 21 appearances for England, scoring once.
The midfielder moved into punditry and presented on the BBC and BT Sport after retiring from professional football in 2016.
He joined The One Show in 2020 as a stand-in co-host following the departure of Matt Baker and he was made a permanent fixture the following year.
His agency, MC Saatchi, said it no longer represents him.
Aside from the aforementioned shows, he also was the main presenter of Formula E's British-language television coverage. His position looks set to now come under threat in the wake of his BBC sacking.
The motorsport series has made it clear they have not yet confirmed their presenting line-up for the new season. They also warned that anyone working for them must meet the "high standards" they expect.
A Formula E spokesperson said, "Jermaine Jenas was part of Formula E’s presentation team for season 10, which ended in July this year. As per the process followed in previous seasons, we will announce our presenter line-up for season 11 in due course. This decision will be carefully considered, taking into account the high standards we expect to be upheld at Formula E."
The BBC confirmed Jenas' exit in a statement to Mirror Football, with a spokesperson saying, "We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting line up." The BBC have subsequently confirmed that Jenas has been dismissed due to his "workplace conduct."
In an interview with The Sun yesterday, Jenas insisted "nothing physical ever happened" but confessed to "cheating" on his wife.
He said, "I'm not proud of what I wrote and what I said. This is all on me and I fully accept there is a level of responsibility that needs to be upheld when you're a member of the BBC."
Jenas insisted "I did nothing illegal" and argued the messages were with "two consenting adults." "With one she made it clear she was interested," he added.
Apologising to his family, friends and colleagues, the 41-year-old said, "I have let myself down, my family, friends and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology - especially the women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry."
He added, "I think it would be fair to say I have a problem. I know I self-sabotage and have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially and I know I need help. And I am getting help.
"I have made a lot of mistakes, and I am asking myself a lot of questions at the moment. I know there's a lot of work that needs to be done, and it will be hard."
Robbie Earle was one of the most entertaining football pundits before his sacking in 2010. He was part of ITV's coverage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
It soon transpired that Earle had given away multiple tickets to matches, which were snapped up by the beer brand, Bavaria. More than 36 glamorous women turned up to watch the Netherlands vs. Denmark clash wearing identical orange dresses.
After confirming the block of tickets allocated to Earle, with the intention of being distributed to his family and friends, had been given to a third party, his deal was terminated with immediate effect.
In the early 2000's, Rodney Marsh was a popular football pundit and presenter on Sky Sports News. However, in 2005, he was sacked after a tasteless remark he made on air about the Asia tsunami which killed more than 300 000 people and displaced millions.
He made a comment which involved a pun on the word tsunami and Newcastle United's nickname "Toon Army." Marsh quickly released an apology which said, "I apologise unreservedly for any offence I caused by my thoughtless and inappropriate comment I made. My intention was to make a light-hearted football joke."
In 2004, Ron Atkinson, the former Manchester United manager, shocked the country when a racist rant about ex-Chelsea defender, Marcel Desailly, was caught on microphones after the Blues' Champions League semi-final loss to Monaco. From the microphones, which were supposed to be turned off, the ex-United boss was heard saying, "He's what is known in some schools as a f***ing lazy thick n*****."
He immediately resigned from his role at ITV. The broadcaster released a statement which said, "We don't in any way condone the comments in question, which were not broadcast as part of ITV's coverage but were made in an off-air conversation after the game.
"It was a regrettable lapse by a respected and experienced broadcaster. He immediately offered his resignation which we have accepted."
Atkinson also issued a comment of his own that said, "I made a stupid mistake which I regret. It left me no option but to resign. At the moment, I can't believe I did it. If you look at my track record as a manager, I was one of the first managers in the game to give black players a chance."
In 2017, Trevor Sinclair was embroiled in a high profile drink-driving incident which also saw him racially abuse a police officer. After he was pulled over by an officer, he demanded to know if he was being arrested because he is black, before attacking the officer with a racial slur.
At the time, he was a regular on Football Focus and Match of the Day. After the incident, the BBC said there were "no plans to use him on our programmes."
He would go on to be sentenced to 150 hours of community service for racially aggravated harassment. He was also handed a 20-month driving ban for drink-driving.
Richard Keys and Andy Gray used to be the presenting and commentary anchors of Sky Sports News. In 2011, however, the pair were both sacked by the Premier League broadcaster after they were recorded making sexist remarks towards assistant referee, Sian Massey-Ellis.
Keys was recorded saying, "[Somebody] better get down there and explain offside to her," while Gray said, "Yeah, I know. Can you believe that? Female linesman. Forget what I said - they probably don’t know the offside rule." He later added, "Why is there a female linesman? Somebody’s f***ed up big."
In an interview with the Athletic in 2021, a still furious Keys said, "What happened to me was recorded on a telephone in that studio, it seems to me it was done with a specific purpose. Andy wasn’t live when he was stood pitchside. That anger that I carry in my back pocket, I will never, ever put away.”
Due to his appearances on shows such as 'It's A Knockout', Stuart Hall was a beloved presenter at the BBC. In 2012, he was even included in the New Year's Honours list when he received an OBE.
One year later, Hall was jailed in 2013 after he admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, one as young as nine, between 1967 and 1985. He was initially sentenced to 15 months in prison but that was doubled when the court of appeal ruled that the original term was "inadequate."
In cricket and 2006, Dean Jones, the former Australia Test batsman turned TV commentator, was sacked by his employers, Ten Sports, after being heard calling Hashim Amla a 'terrorist' on live television during the fourth day's play between Sri Lanka and South Africa at Colombo.
When Amla, who is a devout Muslim, took the catch to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara, Jones was heard to say, "the terrorist has got another wicket."
"The switchboards of both Cricket South Africa and SuperSport, that takes a feed of the broadcast to South African audiences, was jammed with calls from some very angry people," Gerald Majola, former Cricket South Africa's chief executive, said.
Shortly after Majola's statement was released, Jones was spotted at Colombo airport where he made a statement to journalists. "I'm gone, I'm on the 1 a.m. flight," he admitted. "It was a silly and completely insensitive thing to say and, obviously, it was never supposed to be heard over the air. I am truly sorry to have caused offence to anybody and the last thing I intended was to be disrespectful.
"Everyone needs to get away from perpetuating the myth, publicly and privately, that beards associated with the Muslim faith are somehow suspicious and I intend to do exactly that. The irony is that I am great friends with most of the Pakistan team and they are all Muslims.
"I have no end of respect for the Muslim faith - that's why I'm so sorry at making such a stupid comment," he said. "It does not represent who I am, how I think or what I believe. I will be the first person to apologise to Hashim as soon as I get the chance, and I will assure him that prejudice against anybody, on any basis, is unacceptable and not something I will ever condone."
Majola added that "this kind of insulting racial stereotyping has no place in cricket and must be stamped on swiftly. The ICC has strongly condemned racism and we will be discussing the matter with them."
Former Ireland international, Neil Francis, was sacked from his role as a rugby pundit in 2021 after making a racist remark about British & Irish Lions flyhalf, Marcus Smith, who he described as having an "Oompa Loompa tan."
Discussing the prospects of Harlequins flyhalf Smith, who is of mixed British and Filipino heritage, playing in the Test series against South Africa, Francis told the Irish Independent‘s The Left Wing podcast: "A Harlequins out-half with a David Beckham haircut and an Oompa Loompa tan … you just couldn’t throw him in."
Francis’ remarks, recorded on 14 July, were removed shortly after broadcast but widely circulated on social media.
Mediahuis Ireland, publisher of Independent, announced they had decided to end his contract, with a spokesperson saying: "Neil Francis’ remarks were unacceptable and he has apologised for them.
"The comments were initially released in the podcast but were subsequently removed by our production team a short time later. This should have happened before it was released and we apologise for the error.
"We acknowledge that Mr. Francis says his comments were inadvertent but we have decided to end our relationship with him and he will no longer write columns or contribute to our podcasts."
At the end of the day, pundits don't possess an invisibility cloak or an immunity idol to hide behind. They are susceptible to getting into trouble just like everyone else. Personally, I fully support the above decisions that were made. Disguting actions were done and the rightful punishment was dished out.