Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is to join the BBC Sport team as a pundit for this summer’s European Football Championships.
Redknapp, who had been linked with the England manager’s job, will instead join up with BBC regulars Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon to offer expert analysis on the matches in Poland and Ukraine.
Kicking off on June 8, the BBC’s Euro 2012 coverage will be led by Gary Lineker, with special guests including Jurgen Klinsmann, Clarence Seedorf and David James.
BBC TV will show 16 live games, including a potential England quarter-finals, both semi-finals, and the final, shared with ITV, on July 1.
Redknapp, who was part of the BBC team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, said: “I’m looking forward to working with the BBC team again.”
The 65-year-old was the firm favourite among bookmakers and the press to take over from Fabio Capello as the next England manager, but was overlooked in favour of West Bromwich Albion manager Roy Hodgson.
The BBC’s main presentation team will not be based in one of the tournament’s host cities, and will instead broadcast from their state-of-the-art studios at BBC Sport’s new home at MediaCityUK in Salford.
Part of the reasoning behind the BBC’s decision is because of the difficulty of finding an iconic location that reflects a competition being staged across thousands of miles in two countries.
Whether the team travels to Poland and Ukraine for the later stages depends on how England and the Republic of Ireland progress in the tournament.
The BBC said the decision to base its team in Salford was “solely based on providing value for money”.
Using the latest technology, the BBC team will bring the atmosphere and flavour of every live game to audiences across the country.
Jake Humphrey will lead the coverage from Poland and Ukraine, while Gabby Logan will bring all the news and updates direct from the England camp.
Philip Bernie, Head of TV Sport, said: “We are really looking forward to our top team covering the European Championship.
“We have an excellent line-up of talent to present and comment on all the action and hope to see England progressing as far as possible, with the BBC showing all their knockout matches live.”
All of the BBC’s Euro 2012 will be shown in high definition on BBC One HD or BBC HD. As well as the live matches, there will also be highlights programmes showing all of the games not covered live.
In addition to comprehensive TV coverage, the BBC will provide full coverage of the tournament across radio and online platforms.
On radio, all games will be covered via BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra while a raft of online tools will give viewers the chance to follow the tournament wherever they may be.
The BBC Sport website will boast an extensive offering including live streaming of all BBC games, live text commentaries from every game of the tournament, in-depth team and venue guides, a tournament tracker and behind the scenes videos.
The 2012 European Football Championships forms part of a huge summer of live sport on the BBC, which also includes Wimbledon, The Open Championship and Formula 1, culminating with the greatest sporting show on earth – the Olympic Games.
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Euro 2012 – LIVE on BBC & ITV Details of when and where to watch this summer’s tournament CLICK HERE BBC Euro 2012 Press Pack Full details of the BBC’s comprehensive coverage on TV, radio & online CLICK HERE .
