Tennis legend Martin Navratilova has claimed Gary Lineker‘s views on transgender athletes in sport are an ‘utter load of bulls***’ after the BBC presenter suggested it would not be a ‘real issue’.
Linker, who is under fire for sharing a pro-Palestine video featuring an anti-Semitic rat slur, was asked about his views on transgender athletes in an interview with the Telegraph this week.
The outgoing Match of the Day host had been urged by fellow BBC pundits Navratilova and Olympic swimming medallist Sharron Davies to address the subject last year.
Lineker’s podcast The Rest is Football did not broach the subject when asked by the pundits in a question and answer session last year, after the FA banned a teenager for asking a rival ‘are you a man?’
The 64-year-old claimed the subject was ‘too nuanced’ to be discussed in a post, before insisting it was unlikely to a major issue at the elite level of sport.
‘You can’t cover that subject properly in a post. It’s too nuanced. I don’t actually think, in terms of sport, that it will ever be a real issue,’ Lineker told the Telegraph.
Gary Lineker’s views on transgender athletes in women’s sport have been labelled ‘unbelievable’
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Olympic swimming medallist Sharron Davies hit out at Lineker’s comments
‘Sport, as it’s already doing, will sort it out and work out rules. Like they did in boxing, when they realised they couldn’t have heavyweights against little fellas.’
‘They’re some of the most persecuted on the planet, trans people. You’ve got to be very careful not to have bigoted views on that.
‘I genuinely feel really badly for trans people. Imagine going through what they have to go through in life. Is there even any issue? It’s the same swimmer, the same weightlifter, the same boxer. They’re the only people I ever see.’
Lineker’s comments appeared to reference weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who became the first transgender athlete to compete in the women’s event at the Olympics back in 2021, as well as swimming Lia Thomas.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was subject of a gender eligibility row at last year’s Paris Olympics, after being disqualified from the World Boxing Championship in 2023 for allegedly for failing a gender test.
Numerous sports have strengthened their rules in recent years, including athletics and swimming. New IOC president Kirsty Coventry also vowed to make protecting the female category ‘a priority’ following her election earlier this year.
Following the UK Supreme Court ruling that transgender women are not legally women, both the Football Association and the ECB have barred transgender women from football and cricket.
The FA had said there were fewer than 30 transgender women registered among millions of amateur players.
Judges at the Supreme Court last month ruled that a woman should be defined by biological sex in the Equality Act – a verdict which is likely to have major implications in sport
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is the sole transgender athlete to have competed at the Olympics, while swimming Lia Thomas has been blocked under swimming’s rules
Boxer Imane Khelif, who is not transgender won gold at the Paris Olympics last year but was subject to a gender eligibility row throughout the Games
Despite governing body’s strengthening rules, something highlighted by Lineker, the presenter came under fire from Navratilova and Davies for claiming it was not a ‘real issue’.
‘Truly unbelievable,’ Navratilova told the Telegraph. ‘What an utter load of BS – and I am being nice. Seriously Gary? It’s OK for men to compete against female bodies? You must be joking.’
Davies added: ‘His ignorance in this article is astonishing. Should keep his mouth shut unless he can be bothered to do some homework.
‘Over 1,600 men in women’s sports in the USA and Canada alone.
Not just three – of which one is a DSD [differences in sexual development] athlete, not even trans,” Davies said. “But suggest he has no idea of the difference? One removing fairness or safety for females in female sport is one too many.’
Author JK Rowling, who has been vocal on gender issues, also joined criticism of Lineker.
‘None of the people spouting this c**p are ignorant,’ Rowling wrote.
‘They know, as we all know, that men don’t belong in women’s sport, but saying so requires a backbone and not being terrified of losing likes from the in-crowd.’
Harry Potter author JK Rowling joined critics of Lineker’s comments on social media
Linker is already facing a backlash over his condemnation of Israel in the Gaza war
Lineker is already facing a backlash over his comments over his strident condemnation of Israel in the Gaza war.
The presenter’s latest comments had come three days before the BBC’s highest paid presenter shared on Instagram to his 1.2million followers a video from the group Palestine Lobby.
The clip, which purported to define Zionism, featured throughout a cartoon emoji of a rat, a symbol that has been used in Nazi propaganda as an anti-Jewish smear.
The former England football captain issued an ‘unreserved apology’ after widespread criticism and calls for the BBC to axe him.
Lineker’s agent said on Tuesday that the star had both not noticed the rat image on the video he shared and would have been unaware of its connotations.
Lineker subsequently said in his own statement yesterday afternoon: ‘On Instagram I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references. I very much regret these references.’
