Gary Lineker has announced he will quit the BBC and this weekend’s Match of the Day will be his last, following several controversial social media posts.
The former England football captain, who is highest paid the highest-paid presenter at the BBC, apologised for sharing a video on Zionism that featured an emoji of a rat - historically used as an antisemitic insult.
The 64-year-old deleted the post from his profile as soon as he saw the image, Lineker’s agent said. Last Tuesday afternoon, Lineker issued a statement in which he “apologised unreservedly” for the post.
In a statement on Monday, Lineker admitted that he felt that now was the right time to step away: “I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic – it goes against everything I stand for.
“However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”
Here is a round-up of the controversies he has been involved in during his time at the BBC, as the broadcaster confirmed his exit:
Views on migrant policy
Lineker has often voiced support for a liberal approach to border controls, and has also expressed support for a second EU referendum.
In March 2023, he compared the language used to liken a government asylum seeker policy to 1930s Germany, describing the scheme as “immeasurably cruel”.
There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 7, 2023
His comments sparked a backlash which saw the BBC remove him from hosting football highlights programme Match Of The Day.
Lineker later returned to the show after the row prompted a number of his fellow pundits, including Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, to boycott it.
The BBC later introduced new social media rules banning flagship presenters from making attacks on political parties.
Criticising the Conservative Party
In 2018, Lineker was criticised by BBC cricket presenter Jonathan Agnew after he posted a string of tweets criticising the Conservative Party.
Agnew told Lineker that as “the face of BBC Sport”, he should “observe BBC editorial guidelines”.
Imagine how hopeless you’d have to be to still be behind the Tory party in the polls. The absolute state of our politics.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 12, 2018
It came after Lineker tweeted: “Imagine how hopeless you’d have to be to still be behind the Tory party in the polls. The absolute state of our politics.”
In 2022, the BBC found Lineker had breached its impartiality guidelines over comments he had made in February asking then-foreign secretary Liz Truss if her party would “hand back their donations from Russian donors” after the invasion of Ukraine.
Qatar World Cup
Before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Lineker led criticism of then-foreign secretary James Cleverly for suggesting LGBT+ football fans be “respectful of the host nation” – where homosexuality is illegal.
“Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?” Lineker said in response to the cabinet minister’s comments.
Lineker later opened the BBC’s broadcast coverage of the Qatar World Cup with a critique of the host country’s treatment of migrant workers and record on human rights.
Sewage crisis
In August 2022, BBC journalist Neil Henderson asked if Lineker had a contract which allowed him to breach BBC impartiality after he tweeted about sewage being pumped into the sea.
The presenter had posted: “As a politician how could you ever, under any circumstances, bring yourself to vote for pumping sewage into our seas? Unfathomable!”
Views on Israel
Lineker has spoken out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and criticised Israel’s attacks on the strip in recent months.
He told the Guardian last year that he has “received threats”, and said: “If you lean to one side or the other, the levels of attack are extraordinary. How could it be controversial to want peace? I just don’t understand it.
“You don’t need to be Islamophobic to condemn Hamas or antisemitic to condemn Israel. But at the moment it’s just awful. Awful.”
Most recently, he has been criticised for sharing an Instagram video on Zionism that featured an emoji of a rat.
He posted the story clip from the group Palestine Lobby, which, titled “Zionism explained in less than 2 min”, contained a circled illustration of the animal.
The use of the term rat in association with Jewish people is said to be antisemitic, with it being used as an insult to describe the race by Nazi Germany.
The former England football captain deleted the post from his profile as soon as he saw the image, Lineker’s agent said. On Tuesday afternoon, Lineker issued a statement in which he “apologised unreservedly” for the post.
He said: “On Instagram I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references. I very much regret these references. I would never knowingly share anything antisemitic. It goes against everything I believe in.
“Whilst I strongly believe in the importance of speaking out on humanitarian issues, including the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, I also know that how we do so matters. I take full responsibility for this mistake. That image does not reflect my views. It was an error on my part for which I apologise unreservedly.”
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