The son of under-fire Gary Lineker, George Lineker, has penned an emotional statement in support of his Dad as the unsavoury row with the BBC goes on.
The former Leicester and Barcelona striker has found himself at the heart of controversy over recent days for his comments regarding the government's asylum policy. He was pulled from Saturday's Match of the Day as a result with BBC bosses having to make major alterations to their programming over the weekend.
George took to Twitter on Sunday afternoon with an emotional message of support for his Dad. He posted an image of the pair with the caption: "Proud of the old man after a busy few days.
"Shouldn’t need to apologise for being a good person and standing by his word. The reaction of the public has been overwhelming. Thanks for the support."
The words from George are just the latest in a long line of declarations of support for Lineker as his row with BBC bosses goes on. A number of his punditry colleagues such as Ian Wright, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and Alex Scott - among many others - made the decision not to work throughout the weekend.
With Lineker not in action on Saturday evening, he was forced to make alternative plans for the weekend. He travelled back to former club Leicester to watch Chelsea's 3-1 victory at the King Power Stadium where he was mobbed by fans requesting selfies.
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George had previously revealed what the former striker's plans were for Sunday. Speaking with The Mirror, he confirmed: "He's been at Leicester today [Saturday] and he got a really good reaction - there were banners in support of him in the stadium. When he comes home from the Leicester game my brother is cooking him a cottage pie."
George added: "Then he'll probably go to bed and maybe watch the show in the morning, before we go for a Sunday roast."
Lineker senior was duly spotted taking a walk on Sunday with his beloved dog Filbert - named after Leicester's former home of Filbert Street. In the meantime, BBC bosses have been left scrambling in order to get their weekly Match of the Day 2 programme on screens.
A BBC statement has confirmed that the programme will take on the same format of Saturday's Match of the Day with highlights only accounting for a total of 20 minutes.
There will be one crucial change though with commentators set to be reintroduced. The BBC's director general Tim Davie has apologised for the mess and insists he wants Lineker "back on air" as soon as possible.
The Mirror has launched a petition to have Gary Lineker reinstated at the BBC and as the host of Match of the Day. Sign it here.
