Tory MP Julian Knight has bizarrely torn into Gary Lineker and the BBC for their coverage of the World Cup by claiming that the “woke” tone of the channel is “boring”.
The BBC are sharing broadcasting responsibilities with ITV for the tournament with plenty of success. Both channels have shone a light on the issues in Qatar, including human rights offences and the persecution of the LGBT community.
That is something that has wrangled with Knight, who has been left furious at the coverage. Speaking on GB News, he said: “It's boring, that’s the problem with it. Viewers, they've been lectured to, aren't they?
“I mean, one that got my goat and I think got some of my constituents goats was the other day when they broke up half-time coverage to talk about the environment and climate change, etc.
“Obviously, a very serious issue but I watch the news for that. I don't watch the football. And it was a very strange three-minute section that was presented with all these sorts of facts, supposed facts…
“It was a very strange sort of one-sided, entirely sort of out of kilter. And really, frankly, I think people just want the BBC to get on with showing the football rather than, frankly, giving them a lecture.”
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Match of the Day presenter Lineker has also been the target of Knight’s vitriol after the opening week of the tournament. The MP claimed that the former England international has his own agenda. He continued: “I think basically Gary Lineker writes his own rules.
“When the director general of the BBC said that he needed to pull his horns and he just made fun of him…
“How much carbon offsetting is sort of done by the BBC for all the hot air emitting from Gary Lineker, on political issues?
“He loves to venture off on all sorts of areas often [from a ] very…ill informed, woke viewpoint, when actually, the truth of matter is that he's paid to present football matches and maybe perhaps here, so maybe he and some of his colleagues should just stick to it.”
In response to the comments, a BBC spokesperson said: “While we have a long history of bringing major international football tournaments to audiences, including of course, all the action on the pitch, we also have a proven record of addressing topical issues as part of our coverage, and this World Cup is no different.”
