A history of Gary Lineker's most controversial posts - from Rwanda and Brexit to Gaza

Gary Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid on-air presenter, is to leave the corporation in a matter of days.

The Match Of The Day host will step away from the broadcaster at the end of this month, with his last appearance expected on 25 May, the last day of the Premier League season.

His exit comes after he "apologised unreservedly" for sharing a social media post that featured a rat - used in Nazi propaganda to dehumanise Jewish people - and said he would "never knowingly share anything antisemitic".

It was the latest controversial post by the 64-year-old, who has found himself at the centre of several rows over his social media usage, most of which involve him sharing his political views, which go against the BBC's rules on impartiality.

In a statement on Monday, Lineker said: "I care deeply about the game, and about the work I've done with the BBC over many years. As I've said, 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 pundit's most contentious comments as he prepares to leave the BBC.

Gaza documentary

Although not via social media, earlier this year, Lineker was one of 500 media personalities who condemned the BBC for pulling the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone after it emerged the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who had worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.

In an open letter addressed to BBC director general Tim Davie, chairman Samir Shah and outgoing chief content officer Charlotte Moore, Lineker joined hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists who called the decision to remove the documentary "politically motivated censorship".

The presenter later said the BBC had "capitulated", adding that he did not see Abdullah as an issue, and maintaining that the corporation should not have admitted to "a number of serious failings in their commissioning and editorial processes".

The BBC admitted the documentary's failings were "a dagger to the heart" of the corporation's impartiality.

Tory migrant policy

In March 2023, Lineker called a Conservative government policy on migration "immeasurably cruel" and compared the language around it to 1930s Germany.

Hitting out at a video of former home secretary Suella Braverman, where she unveiled the Illegal Migration Bill and claimed the UK was being "overwhelmed" by migrants, Lineker wrote on social media: "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."

His comments sent politicians, pundits and social media platform X into a spin.

As a result, Lineker was removed from his duties as Match Of The Day presenter after claims he had breached their impartiality guidelines.

He later returned to the presenting role after the row prompted a boycott by his fellow football pundits and commentators, hitting TV and radio coverage across the BBC.

Lineker has been consistently vocal on the issue of migration. In 2020 the former England footballer welcomed refugee Rasheed Baluch into his Surrey home.

Mr Baluch, who was from Pakistan, stayed with the presenter for weeks, and spoke out in the pundit's defence in 2023, describing him as a "very sympathetic, caring and human loving man".

'4 chaps Shapps'

Criticising former defence secretary Grant Shapps in December 2023, Lineker posted photos of the politician - who lost his seat in last year's general election - along with different names he has been accused of using in the past.

It was in response to Mr Shapps defending the government's Rwanda scheme. The politician said Lineker should stick to football and stop "meddling" in other matters.

Lineker replied on social media, saying: "A tad rich coming from someone who can't even stick to one name. 4 chaps Shapps."

Chair of the BBC Mr Shah said at the time the post breached the corporation's guidelines.

Brexit and Tories

Lineker was a vocal opponent of Brexit and in 2018 backed the campaign for another EU referendum, saying Brexit felt like it was "going very wrong indeed".

At the time, a BBC source told Sky News that Lineker's position as a freelance broadcaster, and a presenter who does not front news or politics programmes, meant he was clear of the corporation's rules on impartiality.

As well as voicing his Brexit opinions, Lineker bemoaned "the absolute state of our politics", saying "imagine how hopeless you'd have to be to still be behind the Tory party in the polls".

BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew hit back, criticising Lineker for speaking out on politics.

He posted on X: "Gary. You are the face of BBC Sport. Please observe BBC editorial guidelines and keep your political views, whatever they are and whatever the subject, to yourself. I'd be sacked if I followed your example. Thanks."

Lineker made a barbed reply: "Jonathan, I'm the face of my own Twitter account. I'll continue to tweet what I like and if folk disagree with me then so be it."

Russian donors

In February 2022, Lineker tweeted about the Conservative Party taking money from "Russian donors".

Retweeting a story about the then foreign secretary Liz Truss urging football teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia, he added: "And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?"

The BBC's Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) upheld a complaint and said Lineker's post "did not meet the BBC's editorial standards on impartiality".

The ECU said Lineker was "one of the BBC's highest profile stars" and said while not being required to uphold the same high standards of impartiality as its journalists, he had an "additional responsibility" because of his profile.

"We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters," the ruling said.

Row over sewage

A senior BBC journalist questioned Lineker's commitment to the BBC's impartiality rules after the presenter posted on social media about sewage in August 2022.

At the time, Lineker wrote on social media: "As a politician how could you ever, under any circumstances, bring yourself to vote for pumping sewage into our seas? Unfathomable!"

BBC journalist Neil Henderson asked Lineker whether he had a contract allowing him to breach BBC impartiality, writing: "The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can't abide it, get off it."

He subsequently apologised to the former footballer and deleted the tweets. Under the BBC's social media rules, criticising colleagues is off-limits.

Read more:
Who are Match Of The Day's new presenters?

Qatar World Cup

Lineker opened the BBC's coverage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup with a scathing critique of the host country's record on human rights and treatment of migrant workers.

The segment analysed the decision to award the tournament to Qatar amid corruption allegations and brought in pundits to discuss workers' rights and discrimination against LGBT people.

Former BBC journalist Emily Maitlis - who was once found to have breached impartiality guidelines herself - compared that incident to the response to his other social media posts around the same time.

She said: "Curious that Gary Lineker was free to raise questions about Qatar's human rights record - with the blessing of the BBC - over the World Cup, but cannot raise questions of human rights in this country if it involves criticism of government policy..."

In advance of the tournament, Lineker criticised then foreign secretary James Cleverly after he suggested LGBT football fans should be "respectful" of Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, if they visited for the World Cup.

Responding to the comments, Lineker said: "Whatever you do, don't do anything gay. Is that the message?"

The time he didn't speak out

Reflecting on his comments about the Qatar World Cup, Lineker said he and the BBC should have spoken out more during the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

At the time there were calls for Russia to be stripped of the World Cup or boycotted in 2014 after it annexed Crimea and was blamed by the West for supplying arms to pro-Russian separatists suspected of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.

"I think we were all going how great it was, and this and that and the other, and that's how sportwashing works," Lineker said during a BBC Radio 4 interview.

"We've seen what Putin's done subsequently, but he'd done it before.

"I think looking back now in hindsight, I think we should probably have spoken out more."

(c) Sky News 2025: A history of Gary Lineker's most controversial posts - from Rwanda and Brexit to Gaza