Lineker speaks of racist abuse for his ‘darkish skin’ as a boy

GARY LINEKER has said he experienced “pretty much racist abuse” for his “darkish skin” when he was young.

The Match of the Day host and former England international said that despite being as “English as they come” he suffered abuse at the hands of classmates.

Lineker has recalled that he received this abuse “all the time”, and the treatment continued into his professional career. He said that without being good at sport he would likely have been more severely bullied, saying: “I was a tiny, geeky kid with darkish skin. I had pretty much racist abuse, although I’m as English as they come.”

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, he added: “Even in professional football I had that a couple of times. I wouldn’t name names.

“But I got that kind of nonsense, which was a bit weird. Whether that was part of something that made me, I don’t know. Other people might not be able to handle that.”

Lineker is known to speak out on social problems, including issues of racism, and has been a supporter of players taking the knee before matches in the Premier League, a practice introduced following Black Lives Matter protests.

The former Tottenham and Barcelona striker has faced criticism for a lack of neutrality on certain issues while being the face of a prominent BBC programme, but the presenter has defended airing his views.

He said: “What’s the point in having an enormous platform that I’ve got if I don’t use it for what I think is good, what I think is important.”