Backlash as Lineker given award after migrant row
GARY Lineker was last night accused of jetting off on a ‘self- congratulatory fest’ to Italy to collect an award for his activism.
The Match Of The Day presenter was taken off air in March after refusing to back down after comparing the Government’s language on asylum seekers to 1930s Germany.
It led to a major crisis for the BBC and a humiliating climbdown as Lineker agreed a deal which allowed him to tweet about refugees and climate change.
And now the corporation is facing yet another headache from its highest-paid star after it was revealed that he would attend an award ceremony hosted by Amnesty International in Rome on Wednesday.
He will be presented with a ‘sport and human rights award’ by the organisation, which described him as a ‘staunch advocate for the rights of refugees and migrants’.
He will receive his award alongside Palestinian footballer Natali Shaheen.
However, Lineker, 62, will be soaking up praise for his championing of refugees in a country led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni who has warned of ‘an invasion’ of migrants and refugees. Earlier this year, she unveiled new policies toughening the country’s approach to migrants seeking asylum and introducing harsher punishments for people smugglers.
Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, has previously called for Lineker to be allowed to speak his mind on refugees, despite his interventions persistently leading to the BBC being accused of bias.
Last night, the former England striker faced a backlash from Tory MPs who urged him to reconsider his position at the BBC. Craig Mackinlay said: ‘It is another selfcongratulatory fest of one woke group to another woke activist.’
And Gareth Johnson said: ‘Gary Lineker needs to decide if he wants to be a politician or a public broadcaster. He can’t do both.’
Sir John Hayes, chairman of the common sense group of MPs, added: ‘This award is a matter of regret, but also rather pathetic.
‘Perhaps it is time for Gary to hang up his microphone as he did his boots long ago.’
Amnesty International said its ‘sport and human rights award’, now in its fifth year, is part of a collaboration between the group and the Italian organisation Sport4Society. The award is designed to ‘highlight outstanding contributions to human rights in the field of sport’.
Earlier this year, Lineker – who earns £1.35million a year from the BBC – sent a tweet in response to the Government’s Bill stopping migrants arriving across the Channel in small boats from being able to claim asylum.
He said the policy used ‘language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s’. Lineker was taken off air but after other presenters also refused to appear on football shows in solidarity, he was allowed to return. The BBC last night declined to comment.