Wayne Lineker has sparked a huge backlash after posting a distasteful migrant joke while his brother Gary Lineker has been taking off air following his tweets on the government’s new immigration policy
Wayne Lineker’s contribution surrounding his brother’s dispute with the BBC hasn’t gone down too well with fans.
Gary Lineker has been taken off air from Match of the Day following his migrant tweets but his brother Wayne has seemingly made light of the controversy on Instagram.
The businessman and owner of Ibiza’s infamous club Ocean Beach tweeted a picture of a group of migrants in a small boat with the caption: “Where Gary Lineker’s house?”
Wayne added: “I’m gonna go with ‘no comment on this one guys.”
One angry fan wrote: “Ah Wayne, thought you were better than this. Be grateful you live comfortably and will never have to make a journey like this. #shameful,” while another put: “There are ways to stay relevant when you’re getting older and losing touch… this ain’t it my man.”
Another said: “I don’t agree with this post Wayne. Unfortunately posting something like this will result in hate comments and people’s racist uneducated views. Not really something to laugh about when people are risking their lives to find a better life.
“Your brothers tweet spoke a lot of truth. I’m sorry that you guys don’t speak anymore but this isn’t the way to get at him, if that was your intention, using other people’s misfortunes is pretty grim in my eyes.”
Wayne may not have explicitly backed his brother regarding the row with the BBC, but many other celebrities have rushed to Gary’s side to show their support.
Richard Osman, Kathy Burke and Gary Neville have all spoken out following the BBC issuing a statement about Gary’s future as host of Match of the Day.
Piers Morgan didn’t hold back when slamming the BBC – calling the organisation splineless and calling on other stars to be investigated over so-called impartially breaches.
He tweeted: “WTF? How pathetically spineless.. I now demand the BBC suspend every presenter who has made public comment about news or current affairs – starting with Sir David Attenborough and Lord Sugar.”
On Friday, the broadcaster announced Gary would be “stepping back” from Match of the Day and would not be hosting the show this weekend.
In a statement, the BBC said: “The BBC has been in extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days. We have said that we consider his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines.
The BBC has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.”
“When it comes to leading our football and sports coverage, Gary is second to none. ”
“We have never said that Gary should be an opinion free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies,” the statement concluded.
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