“Football is a simple game; 22 men hunt for ninety minutes on a ball and at the end the Germans always win,” said the English top attacker Gary Lineker after the English had lost in the semi-final to West Germany, at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Initially it was intended that the 64-year-old former international of England (80 international matches, 48 goals) would ventilate similar football wisdom during the 2026 World Cup. This time as presenter of the BBC, his employer for 26 years. But an Instagram video of the channel Palestinelobby About Zionism with the illustration of a rat, shared on his own page last week, leads to his departure this Monday. Jews were compared by Nazis with rats to dehuman them.
Lineker, who was a football player of undisputed behavior and never received a yellow or red card, later offered his “unconditional apologies”. He says he would “never consciously share anything anti -Semitic,” said a statement of The BBC.
The riot embarrassed the British broadcaster. “The reputation of the BBC is in the hands of everyone and when someone makes a mistake, it will harm us,” said BBC boss Tim Davie last week The Guardian. “I think we absolutely need that people are an example for the values of the BBC and adhere to our social media policy. It is that simple.”
The British NGO Campaign Against Anti -Semitism asked the BBC to dismiss his best paid employee. In the 2023-2024 football season, Lineker received approximately 1.6 million euros for his contribution to the sports program Match of the day. He is also the boss of the Podcastbedrijf Goalhanger, known for the successful podcasts The rest is politics,, ” The rest is history and The rest is footballlast year good for 1.6 million euros in profit. “The BBC has squeezed an eye for too long, his expiration date has long passed, and it must now go,” said the NGO.
The public broadcaster and Lineker reported this Monday that Lineker will perform for the last time next weekend Anchorman.
Last March Lineker also spoke for the Palestinian case. Just like five hundred other well -known British, he turned against the BBC’s decision for the documentary Gaza: How to Survive A Warzone to withdraw. The main character, the 14-year-old Adbullah, turned out to be the son of a deputy minister in the Hamas government of Gaza. The public broadcaster did not know this. “Censorship,” critics said as Lineker.
Thirties
Lineker from Leicester, who has been presenting the popular match of the day since 1999, has been in trouble more often in recent years by sharing his political opinion on social media. In 2023, for example, he was temporarily put on non-active after a critical Twitter message. He mentioned the bill of the then British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Minister of Foreign Affairs Suella Braverman (both of the Conservative Party), to turn off boat refugees who survive the crossing of the channel as quickly as possible, “immeasurably cruel.” According to Lineker, such rhetoric differed ‘not much […] from Germany in the 1930s. “
The temporary suspension, due to “bias, led to an internal uprising. Analysts, presenters and commentators of Match of the day temporarily refused to take a seat along the field and in the studio. As a result, some viewers had to follow football matches without comments. In addition to colleagues, Lineker received support from professor of history Tanja Bueltmann of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. “If we cannot use our historical knowledge to identify similarities, what is the history for?”, The historian said two years ago NRC.
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‘Unmorning’
Lineker did not regret his statement in 2023, he said last month during an interview with the BBC. “I was right, what I said was accurate.” Yet on closer inspection he would have omitted the tweet. “Because of all the nonsense that accompanied it. [Het wetsvoorstel was] Very rude. On the other hand, I was not particularly unmanageable. “
Lineker also discussed his planned departure at Match of the Day after the current season, which he already announced last year. “It’s time,” said Lineker. “I did it for a long time, it was great.” He also let himself be shown that it was not entirely his own choice. “Well, maybe wanted [de BBC] That I am leaving, I had that feeling. “
On Monday, Lineker again apologized in a video message on Instagram. “Unfortunately I didn’t see the” rat “.” Lineker emphasized that he has emerged his entire life for minorities, humanitarian issues and any form of racism, including “of course” anti -Semitism.