Gary Lineker has faced criticism for retweeting suggestions that Israel should face sanctions from FIFA as a result of its actions in Gaza.
The England legend and TV presenter posted the statement from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel yesterday, which demanded Israel was removed from all international competitions “until it ends its grave violations of international law”.
Following the retweet, Lineker, 63, faced criticism from Tory MPs and anti-semitsm campaigners, with Stephen Crabb, a former cabinet minister and the parliamentary chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel group saying it was a “deeply inappropriate” message to endorse.
The statement from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel, the Palestinian Football Association urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA to align with other sporting bodies in sanctioning Israel.
It urged the sporting bodies to take “an urgent stance towards Israel’s grave violations of human rights and subject it to legal accountability measures”.
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Following the post a Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesman said Lineker had not spoken out against anti-semitism despite his recent activism.
He said: “Gary Lineker has a lot to say about a lot of things, but antisemitism does not appear to be one of them. At a time of record levels of racism against Jews, not a peep.
“But he has found the time to amplify a call to suspend the world’s only Jewish state from international sports. His priorities are clear.”
Israel has been accused of violations of international law, including indiscriminately bombing civilian areas. The number of Palestinian civilians killed varies between estimates, although a recent estimate by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor claims at least 100,000 Palestinians have been killed, wounded or reported missing in the past 100 days of the war.
It comes after Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis in a huge attack on October 7, with over 100 still being held captive.
Lineker has also faced criticism on Twitter with one user claiming his retweet was “putting Jewish lives in danger”.
It read: “Gary Lineker, you are putting Jewish lives in danger. Your powerful voice is fanning the fire of antisemitism. You have called for FIFA to take action against Israel. Turkey is taking action against an Israeli footballer for showing this and your loud voice is part of this.”
But some backed the former Leicester City striker, agreeing that the country should be banned from FIFA competition.
One tweet read: “Good on you Gary Lineker. The Israeli Football Association includes teams based in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. This is a flagrant violation of international law and the FIFA statutes.”
A BBC source told the Daily Mail: “We aren’t going to give a commentary on individuals or individual tweets.”
