Gary Lineker has revealed he cried after Alan Shearer and Ian Wright opted to boycott Match of the Day in a gesture of solidarity. The former Leicester and Tottenham striker was recently involved in a row with the BBC. But while the organisation were unhappy with tweets about the government’s immigration policy, they’ve now buried the hatchet and moved on from the ordeal.
Last month, Lineker triggered a huge row after saying the government had used language ‘not too dissimilar’ to what was used by Germany in the 1930s.
He said: “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?”
The BBC then decided to come down hard on Lineker but, following that drama, he was allowed to continue as Match of the Day presenter.
Fellow pundits Shearer and Wright opted to boycott the show in a gesture of solidarity and Lineker, speaking to Mens Health, has revealed he cried following their decision.
“I had a tear in my eye when I heard Wrighty and Alan Shearer had pulled out,” the 62-year-old said.
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“Ian had told me he would do it, but it is one thing to say it, another to do it.
“Then one by one the others pulled out, and even some of the players and managers said they wouldn’t do interviews.
“To be fair to Tim Davie, he admitted they had got it wrong and sorted it out.
“I love the BBC and I was very glad to be back on air and talking about football again.”
Lineker also was asked about whether he was political, and admitted he’d voted for different parties throughout his life so far.
“I’ve always been interested in politics,” he stated. “And I know how much it matters.
“But I am not politically tribal in the way someone like you [Alastair Campbell] would be.
“My dad was a big fan of Maggie Thatcher. I’ve voted for different parties at different times.
“The right-wing papers like to call me a leftie, but I wouldn’t say I was very left wing.
“I am somewhere in the centre, probably more centre-left at the moment, certainly not right wing. I think I am your classic floating voter.”
And Lineker also doubled down by saying his controversial tweet was ‘factually accurate’.
“When I sent that tweet, it honestly never even crossed my mind that it would lead to where it went,” he said.
“I’ve worked with refugees’ charities for years. So, when I saw the Suella Braverman film, I said I thought it was pretty awful.
“Then the ‘stick to football’ people weighed in and I replied to one of them, just saying there was no massive influx, the UK takes far fewer refugees than other European countries, this is a cruel policy, and the language used in the debate reminds us of the debate in Germany in the 1930s.
“I think that is factually accurate.”
When asked if the ordeal would make him think twice, Lineker added: “I always think twice.
“I have three rules: I never tweet if I’ve been drinking, I never tweet if I’m angry, and I always read the tweet back before hitting send.
“If I have one per cent of doubt, I don’t post it.”
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