The BBC is facing fresh calls to sack Gary Lineker after he shared a pro-Palestine video featuring a rat emoji and which was condemned as echoing Nazi propaganda.
The ex-England captain, 64, is stepping down from presenting Match Of The Day this summer but is still due to front the corporation’s coverage of next year’s World Cup.
Lineker, a vocal critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, earlier shared to his Instagram page a clip originating with the group Palestine Lobby – though it emerged this afternoon the video had now been deleted from his ‘Stories’ reel on the site.
The cartoon image of a rat was seen on screen throughout the video in which Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu attacks Israel‘s military action.
Disgusted users on X shared his post on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter – and a former BBC Director of Television demanded action from the corporation over what he branded ‘utterly grim’ content.
Screenshots of Lineker’s shared video were immediately flagged as posts which ‘may violate X’s rules against Hateful Conduct’.
Images of rats and other vermin were regularly used as tropes by Nazi Germany to depict Jewish people, as many of Lineker’s critics today have pointed out.
There has been no comment yet from Lineker nor his representatives in response to today’s criticism, while BBC sources highlighted how his post had now been deleted – having remained on his Instagram profile page this morning.
Gary Lineker has been condemned after sharing an Instagram video featuring an emoji of a rat, with critics accusing him of promoting an anti-Semitic slur – the post has now been deleted
The Match Of The Day presenter and former England football captain posted a reel originating with the pro-Palestine group Palestine Lobby
The BBC is facing mounting calls for Gary Lineker to go in response to the new controversy
Jewish groups have been among those condemning his post and calling for the BBC to end any association with him, with charity Campaign Against Antisemitism posting on X: ‘Nothing to see here. Just Gary Lineker’s Instagram account sharing an anti-Israel video misrepresenting Zionism, complete with a rat emoji.’
A CAA spokesperson later told MailOnline: ‘Gary Lineker really has the worst luck when it comes to campaigning for his causes without aligning himself with extremists and antisemites.
‘Not only does this video deliberately misrepresent Zionism – the belief that Jews have the same right to self-determination as everyone else – but it adds a rat emoji in doing so.
‘Why is it that Gary Lineker keeps sharing content on social media that seems to cater to Jew-haters? Perhaps Mr Lineker is not as naive as he would like us to believe.
‘As the BBC’s highest-paid presenter and owner of a major media enterprise, maybe he knows exactly what he’s doing. We will be submitting a complaint to the BBC over this latest post.
‘However, we all know that, no matter how appalling Mr Lineker’s output, the BBC will perform all sorts of mental gymnastics to look the other way. When it comes to Jews, it seems that our national broadcaster believes that the usual standards simply don’t apply.’
Danny Cohen, former Director of BBC Television, this afternoon said: ‘Gary Lineker appears to have shared content about the Jewish State which echoes Nazi propaganda. This is utterly grim.
‘The BBC’s Director General Tim Davie has a simple question to answer: does he tolerate the BBC’s flagship presenters sharing content that has historically been used as an anti-Semitic slur?’
Lineker shared the Palestine Lobby video in his ‘Stories’ selection of reels on Instagram
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘The BBC has allowed the situation with Gary Lineker to continue for far too long.
‘He has caused great offence with this video – particularly with his egregious use of a rat emoji to illustrate Zionists.
‘The BBC should ask him to leave now rather than allowing him to dictate his own terms.’
MailOnline has contacted Lineker’s representatives for comment, with one agency working on his behalf saying it was for the other one to respond.
There were also requests for comment from the BBC and the group Palestine Lobby that initially posted the video reel.
The BBC responded by highlighting the corporation’s ‘Editorial Guidelines’ document, posted online, covering employees’ ‘Personal Use of Social Media, which had been updated in 2023 – suggesting he had not broken the rules.
Lineker himself said in February last year at a Broadcasting Press Guild event: ‘I know the guidelines really well. I was partly involved in drawing them up.
‘I know the guidelines inside out. Obviously the new guidelines actually now allow you much more freedom to tweet. We’re allowed opinions and other stuff.’
Danny Cohen, a former BBC Director of Television, has called for the corporation to take action
The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism has been among critics of the latest video shared – while many other X users have also been condemning Lineker’s post
Among the Nazis’ anti-Semitic depictions of Jewish people as rats was this poster produced by Adolf Hitler’s regime during their 1940s occupation of Denmark
A backlash has been continuing today against both Lineker and his BBC employers following his sharing of the video last night amid a ‘Stories’ compilation reel also including extracts from sporting talks on his The Rest Is Football podcast.
One poster wrote on X: ‘Hidden in insta stories @GaryLineker displays exactly what he is – complete with the rat picture. @BBC that you choose to accept his behaviour, and keep him on your payroll, is as disgusting as it is shameful.’
Barrister Simon Myerson KC, who chairs the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, wondered whether Lineker would ‘have the guts to explain this to Emily Damari’, one of the hostages captured by Hamas in their terror attacks targeting Israel on October 7 2023.
Mr Myerson added: ‘I reckon not. Big man behind a keyboard mind.’
Former BBC journalist Sean McGinty posted: ‘The boss of the BBC, Two-tier Tim Davie, is sitting on his hands again. Is he too scared or too dim to understand what @GaryLineker is saying here?
‘This antisemitic post (note the rat) on Linekar’s Instagram cannot be defended. Yet he has demanded to stay to present the World Cup next year and the BBC have agreed.
‘I love what the BBC once was (for all its faults) and it pains me greatly to watch it being vandalised to the point of destruction by these people for their own financial gains.’
Clint Matthews wrote: ‘Nothing to see here. Just @GaryLineker proudly showing his antisemitic roots.’
Labour Against Antisemitism activist Emma Picken said, ‘@GaryLineker is an antisemite. Gross’, while another poster described the video’s use of a rat emoji as ‘straight up Nazi rhetoric’.
Author Alex Hearn accused the presenter of ‘sharing classic Nazi representations of Jews as rats’, adding: ‘The content Gary Lineker is sharing is so toxic that just explaining it can get a “hateful conduct” label on X. Too extreme for X, but okay for the BBC.’
Lineker, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Barcelona, has previously faced controversy for his political interventions which critics claim are breaches of the BBC’s impartiality rules.
In January last year he said he received threats after he retweeted and later deleted a post on social media calling for Israel to be banned from international sporting events, including football.
Later, speaking to news site Zeteo, he said: ‘There is a lot of heavy lobbying on people to be quiet so I understand why most people refrain but I’m getting on a bit now, I’m fairly secure and I can’t be silent about what’s happening.
‘I think it’s just so, so utterly awful and now they’re talking about, “Oh, it looks like it’s happening, going into Rafah”, where they’ve sent everybody down there.
‘So I don’t see how you can be – it’s not antisemitic to say that what Israel is doing is wrong. I just can’t see how everybody doesn’t see it that way now.
‘But whatever the cause, whatever started it – we all know that the history of this area of the world goes way before October 7. But it’s truly dreadful what’s happening. And I cry on a regular basis when I see certain images on social media.’
Gary Lineker is due to step down as Match Of The Day presenter at the end of this season but will present BBC coverage of next year’s World Cup
Lineker also told the Broadcasting Press Guild event in February last year: ‘We have been getting a lot more leeway now, which is a good thing. I am always sensible.’
He also claimed that he now rarely used X as it had become ‘increasingly toxic’.
He told the gathering of journalists that people should step away from the platform to save their mental health.
He said: ‘It’s always been a bit of a cesspit but it has become increasingly toxic and you can’t have nuanced conversations on there anymore and debates.
‘So I have kind of stepped away from that side of things.’
He also said the BBC ‘love’ him being on the social media platform to ‘promote their shows’.
While his Instagram post has prompted this latest controversy, his recent contributions on X have been dominated by promotions for episodes from his Goalhanger podcast firm including The Rest Is Football that he presents.
