Irish Examiner view: A stumbling cross from the right

Gary Lineker will 'step back' from presenting 'Match Of The Day' until he and the BBC have reached an 'agreed and clear position' on his use of social media, the broadcaster said. 

Opinions will be divided about Gary Lineker, the footballer turned TV pundit and face of Match of the Day, one of the BBC’s highest earners, despite not being on the organisation’s payroll. 

An over-rated striker whose scoring tally was bloated by an exceptional ability to goal hang? A chippy commentator whose specialism is having the last word as the credits roll? A man of the people, champion of the underdog, and voice of the voiceless?

Whether or not you agree with his views, which have cost him, probably temporarily, his job presenting tonight’s highlights show, that the British government’s attempts to stop illegal immigration via small boats is “beyond awful” — the case against his freedom to proclaim such opinions is a confected argument drummed up by discredited politicians, embarrassed by policies they feel they must pursue to stand even the ghost of a chance of re-election.

Lineker is not a news journalist, or political commentator. He is an entertainer, albeit one who is locked into a legal dispute with the UK’s tax authorities over his “self-employed” status. 

Ministers and MPs cannot complain about “cancel culture” and then try to apply the same to an opponent. That is a case of taking both the player and the ball.

Lineker, who famously never received a yellow or red card in his career, is free to voice his opinions, and in this case did so to speak up for vulnerable people; any malice he had was reserved for the callous Suella Braverman. 

But he made a mistake in drawing comparisons with 1930s Nazi Germany, a glib comment the like of which is overused today and that this newspaper has criticised some of our own politicians for in recent years. 

When the BBC announced he would ‘step back’ while his social media use was reviewed,  Match of the Day collaborators Ian Wright and Alan Shearer immediately said they wouldn’t appear on tonight’s show. Will this end in yellow cards for fisticuffs, or is Lineker finally set to see red?