GARY Lineker has said the BBC "capitulated to lobbying" over the removal of a documentary it aired on Gaza.
Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was removed from BBC iPlayer after it emerged that the 13-year-old narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as deputy minister of agriculture in Gaza's government, which is administered by Hamas.
Abdullah later spoke out about the incident, saying that he holds the BBC responsible for his fate.
Lineker (above), 64, was asked about his decision to join more than 500 media figures in a letter condemning the decision to withdraw the documentary.
Speaking to Amol Rajan on BBC Radio 4's Today show, he said he would "100%" support the documentary being shown again.
Lineker said: "I think you let people make their own minds up. We’re adults. We’re allowed to see things like that. It’s incredibly moving."
He added: "I think [the BBC] just capitulated to lobbying that they get a lot."
Lineker said he does not see Abdullah as an issue, and maintained that the corporation should not have admitted to "a number of serious failings in their commissioning and editorial processes".
The broadcaster was also questioned on his decision to post a tweet in March 2023 comparing the then Tory government's asylum policy with 1930s Germany.
Lineker was briefly taken off air, and other sports journalists and presenters walked out in solidarity, before he returned to fronting Match Of The Day (MOTD).
He is set to leave the BBC after fronting its coverage of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The tweets sparked a row about BBC presenters expressing political views on social media, leading to enhanced rules for BBC flagship presenters, including a ban on making attacks on political parties.
Asked about the rules, Lineker questioned why he had to be “impartial”, saying he was a “freelancer”, and the rules were for “people in news and current affairs – they have subsequently changed”.
He added that this “left me, who always gave these honest opinions about things”, having to be impartial which, he said, “didn’t make any sense”, and called it a freedom of speech issue.
“I think this is the mistake… the BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, the people that always go on about the licence fee, attack the BBC. They worry way too much about that, rather than worry about the people that love the BBC, which is the vast majority,” he said.
“Why shouldn’t I have an opinion on things? I’m a bloody footballer who’s turned into a sports presenter.”
