Sports pundit Gary Lineker has often found himself in the headlines over views he has posted on social media platform X and, most recently, Instagram.
Here is a round-up of the controversies in which he has been involved during his time at the BBC, after news that he will leave the corporation sooner than originally anticipated and will not front its coverage of the 2026 World Cup.
– Migrant policy
Lineker, 64, 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 launch a government asylum seeker policy with 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 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.
– 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
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!”
– Israel
Lineker was criticised for reportedly accidentally retweeting a call for Israel to be banned from international sporting events, including football, amid the war in Gaza.
He told the Guardian earlier this 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.”
Last week he “apologised unreservedly” for sharing and then deleting an Instagram story from the group Palestine Lobby, illustrated with a picture of a rat, which prompted calls from the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) for him to be sacked.
He said: “I would never knowingly share anything antisemitic,” and added: “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.”
After this the BBC announced Lineker would leave his presenting role after the conclusion of Match Of The Day for the 2024/25 season.
The corporation also said he would not be part of its coverage of the 2026 World Cup or next season’s FA Cup.
