Gary Lineker confirms he received sick death threats for controversial retweet that he was forced to delete

The Match of the Day host retweeted a post on X, formerly Twitter, by the Palestinian Campaign For The Academic And Cultural Boycott of Israel, which called on FIFA, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and other international sports governing bodies to ban Israel from international sporting events off the back of the Israel-Gaza war. The former England international reportedly said he misread the post as a statement the ban had happened and when he deleted the retweet, Lineker said it caused an eruption of anger.

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Lineker told The Guardian he had "received threats" and added, "But it’s not about me. I am not the victim here."

The BBC presenter also spoke about the conflict raging in the Middle East and how horrible it is to bear.

“Everybody I talk to, every single person I know, is going, ‘What? What is happening?’ But the minute you open your mouth – well, not my mouth, but the minute I tweet a little bit – it’s so toxic. If you lean to one side or the other, the levels of attack are extraordinary," he added.

"How could it be controversial to want peace? I just don’t understand it. You don’t need to be Islamophobic to condemn Hamas, or antisemitic to condemn Israel. But at the moment it’s just awful. Awful.”

Lineker was temporarily taken off air by the BBC in March 2023 after being at the centre of an impartiality row, which involved him criticising comments made by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman when announcing details of her Migration Bill, before being reinstated soon after. In the past week or so, he has changed his X profile to say "retweets are not endorsements".

Ex-footballer Lineker, who says he is now reducing the amount of time he spends trawling through social media posts, will continue hosting Match of the Day and other sporting events on the BBC in the short and long-term future.