Gary Lineker has “apologised unreservedly” after being criticised for sharing a social media post about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat.
“On Instagram I reposted material which I have since learned contained offensive references,” he said in a statement. “I very much regret these references.
“I would never knowingly share anything antisemitic. It goes against everything I believe in.” The Match of the Day presenter said he deleted the post “as soon as I became aware of the issue”.
A rat has historically been used as an antisemitic insult, referring to language used by Nazi Germany to characterise Jews.
“Whilst I strongly believe in the importance of speaking out on humanitarian issues, including the tragedy unfolding in Gaza, I also know that how we do so matters,” Lineker continued.
“I take full responsibility for this mistake. That image does not reflect my views.
“It was an error on my part for which I apologise unreservedly.”
On Tuesday, the Match of the Day host deleted an Instagram story post he shared from the group Palestine Lobby, which said: “Zionism explained in two minutes” and featured a rat.
Zionism refers to the movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel, and thus support for the modern state of Israel.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was submitting a complaint to the BBC, adding that Lineker’s “continued association with the BBC is untenable”.
The charity posted 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 spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said “the BBC should ask him to leave now rather than allowing him to dictate his own terms”.
“He has caused great offence with this video – particularly with his egregious use of a rat emoji to illustrate Zionists.”
The apology came hours after the BBC’s director general reminded stars to follow the corporation’s social media rules and avoid damaging “mistakes”, after the criticism of Lineker’s post.
Asked whether the post had broken BBC guidelines, Tim Davie said: “The BBC’s reputation is held by everyone, and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us.
“I think we absolutely need people to be exemplars of the BBC values and follow our social media policy. It’s as simple as that.”
The former England striker has attracted criticism before for his posts on social media in the past.
He was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over a post in which he said language used to promote a government asylum policy was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
The BBC’s social media rules were then rewritten to say presenters of flagship programmes outside news and current affairs – including Match of the Day – have “a particular responsibility to respect the BBC’s impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC”.
In November 2024, Lineker announced his departure from Match of the Day, but he will remain with the BBC to front FA Cup and World Cup coverage.
