Former player and current commentator and analyst, Gary Linekerleaves British public television after some controversial messages released on Twitter in which he compared the immigration bill of the Conservative government of Rishi Sunak with the Germany coconut of the 30s. The BBC has decided to do without the services of the popular presenter: “Gary Lineker’s recent activity on his social media violates our ethical principles. You shouldn’t take sides in political matters.”
The message that lit the fuse was the following: “There aren’t that many flows. We take in far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is an immeasurably cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable people, in language not unlike that used in Germany in the 1930s.”
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
The message was published on March 7, sparking a barrage of criticism and discussion on social media, and the matter even reached the British Parliament. Culture Minister Lucy Frazer stressed that the BBC must be impartial to maintain the full confidence of the audience that subsidizes it with their taxes.
Public television decided to meet with Gary Lineker to clarify what happened. The former Barcelona footballer was the presenter of one of the star programs on the channel’s sports grid with “Match of the Day”: a program of which he has been the director since 1999more than two decades, and for which he charges almost one and a half million pounds a year.
the controversial Conservative Party bill It was presented last Tuesday. In it, it is foreseen expedited deportation of immigrants who arrive in illegal boats from the English Channel. They are prohibited from applying for asylum and subsequently settling in the UK or applying for British citizenship. It also makes it easier to detain immigrants until they are deported to a third country considered safe. The executive hopes that this will discourage the tens of thousands of crossings of the English Channel in makeshift boats.
Gary Lineker, known as Mr. Nice For his fair play during his playing days (he didn’t see a card in his entire career), he is one of the most recognizable figures in sports on UK television. The last controversy of him has not been the first, and it is that the one of Leicester already positioned himself against the Brexit in 2016.
