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BBC presenter Gary Lineker will no longer cover Grimsby Town’s FA Cup game against Brighton tonight due to illness.

Lineker will be replaced by Alex Scott on BBC One’s FA Cup coverage after he confirmed on Twitter that he had lost his voice. In a tweet, BBC Sport said: “Due to illness we have a line-up change for today’s live coverage of the Brighton v Grimsby FA Cup on BBC One.

“As viewers may have noticed yesterday, Gary Lineker was struggling with his voice and unfortunately it deteriorated overnight. Alex Scott will host in his place.”

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It comes just a week after Lineker was briefly suspended by the BBC for criticizing the government’s illegal immigrants bill. The BBC later backed down from the controversial move, saying he would be allowed to return. There will be an independent review on social media guidelines for freelancers like Lineker.

Lineker returned to the BBC on Saturday night, when he introduced Manchester City’s 6-0 FA Cup win over Burnley at the Etihad.

Lineker’s presence at the City game meant he was unable to present Match of the Day for the second weekend in a row, following last week’s suspension, which inspired a mass strike by many of the presenter’s colleagues.

Eventually an agreement was reached between the BBC and Lineker for him to return to work after lengthy discussions with CEO Tim Davie.

Both Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, who often appear alongside Lineker regularly on Match of the Day, also stepped away from their roles until the presenter was allowed to return.

In a statement on social media on Monday, Lineker revealed how pleased he was to reach an agreement.

He tweeted: “After a surreal few days I am delighted we are through with this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their support was overwhelming.

“I have been presenting sports on the BBC for almost three decades and am immensely proud to work with the best and fairest broadcaster in the world. I can’t wait to return to the MOTD chair on Saturday.”

“A final thought: as difficult as the last few days have been, they simply do not compare to having to flee home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a faraway land. It is heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight by part of many of you”.

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