Gary Lineker is expected to announce he is leaving the BBC on Monday after apologising for amplifying online material with antisemitic connotations, the Guardian understands.
The Match of the Day host will reportedly not present the 2026 World Cup or next season’s FA Cup after “bowing out by mutual agreement” with the broadcaster.
A rat is an antisemitic trope that was used in Nazi Germany to characterise Jews as vermin. Lineker said in a statement that he would “never knowingly share anything antisemitic” and had deleted the post “as soon as I became aware of the issue”.
The BBC director general, Tim Davie, had been facing calls all week to sack Lineker, who was paid £1.4m by the BBC last year.
It wasn’t just there, it existed long before the nazis
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel
I don’t expect people to have an all encompassing knowledge of racism/bigotry, but yeah…
That sounds like it would warrant a legitimately sincere apology if the artist was unaware. I don’t understand what the problem is there, that’s what a rational person would do.