Lineker and Balding to lead BBC’s Commonwealth Games coverage

Gary Lineker and Clare Balding will lead the BBC’s coverage of the Commonwealth Games next year.

They will broadcast live from Celtic Park and Hampden for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 games and provide commentary throughout the 11 days of competition. Gabby Logan, Hazel Irvine and John Inverdale have also been drafted to present the BBC’s multi-channel coverage.

Popular programmes such as The One Show, BBC Breakfast, The Ken Bruce Show and A Question Of Sport will be aired from the corporation’s Scottish headquarters at Pacific Quay during the games.

Bruce Malcolm, head of games coverage at the BBC, said: “As you’d expect, BBC Sport will provide the kind of coverage they did so brilliantly during the Olympics, but we also want to join in the year-long celebrations both here in Glasgow and throughout the rest of Scotland by bringing our audiences a string of live events, concerts and Commonwealth-themed programmes.

“Both BBC Scotland and BBC Sport’s games team will be based here in Glasgow for the duration, with Pacific Quay acting as our Commonwealth Games broadcast engine room.”