Gary Lineker received ‘standing ovation’ in M&S following BBC suspension

The Match Of The Day host, 62, was taken off air by the corporation after being caught up in a row over impartiality in March.
Gary Lineker says he received a ‘standing ovation’ in Marks & Spencer following his BBC suspension (Mike Egerton/PA)
PA Wire
Mike Bedigan5 August 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Gary Lineker said he received a “standing ovation” in a branch of Marks & Spencer after being suspended by the BBC earlier this year.

The Match Of The Day host, 62, was taken off air by the corporation after being caught up in a row over impartiality in March.

Lineker had compared the language used to launch a Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Benching Lineker sparked a backlash and resulted in a number of his fellow sports pundits, including Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, boycotting Match Of The Day.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Lineker said the fallout was “all pretty sad”.

“What the boys did was incredible,” he said, referring to Wright and Shearer.

“It was incredibly moving. For me, as the person they stood up for, it meant a lot. I cried in the back of the taxi.”

He added: “I recall walking to M&S two or three days in, and I got a standing ovation… Well, I suppose everybody’s standing in M&S, but even so.

I recall walking to M&S two or three days in, and I got a standing ovation… Well, I suppose everybody’s standing in M&S, but even so. It was really cringe.

Gary Lineker

“It was really cringe. I didn’t know what to do. I just thought, ‘Please stop’.”

Lineker returned to his presenting duty on March 18, where he fronted live coverage of Manchester City’s FA Cup quarter-final against Burnley alongside Shearer and Micah Richards.

Following the incident BBC director-general Tim Davie said the corporation had commissioned an independent review of its social media guidelines, particularly for freelancers.

Mr Davie apologised for what he acknowledged had been “a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences” and described the BBC’s commitment to freedom of expression and impartiality as a “difficult balancing act”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in