Matt Le Tissier mocks Gary Lineker after he stepped aside from Match of the Day

Matt Le Tissier has mocked Gary Lineker after the former Tottenham striker had to temporarily step aside as presenter of Match of the Day.  

Lineker compared the language used to launch a new Government crackdown on migrants arriving across the Channel in small boats to 1930s Germany. Lineker’s tweet was found to breach BBC impartiality rules. 

On Thursday Lineker tweeted to say that the story had been blown out of proportion and that he would be presenting Match of the Day on Saturday.

However, on Friday it emerged that he will not be presenting the show this weekend. 

The BBC announced that there will be no presenter for Match of the Day on Saturday, with other pundits not appearing in order to show solidarity with Lineker.

A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary.

‘We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.’ 

Former striker Le Tissier added that there are ‘quite a few skeletons’ in Lineker’s closet

Lineker had tweeted: ‘Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days. Happy that this ridiculously out of proportion story seems to be abating and very much looking forward to presenting @MOTD on Saturday. Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming.’

Former Southampton striker Le Tissier took great delight in responding to Lineker’s tweet but admitted that ‘he should be entitled to his opinion unless his contract with the BBC says otherwise’.

Le Tissier wrote: ‘This didn’t age well btw Gary should be entitled to his opinion unless his contract with the bbc says otherwise.’

Le Tissier also criticised Lineker for ‘virtue signalling’ and added there are ‘quite a few skeletons’ in his closet. 

Speaking on Thursday on GB News, Le Tissier said: ‘I can tell you Gary Lineker is no saint, not in any way, shape or form. There’s very few of us around that are saints. I’m no saint, we’ve all made mistakes in our lives but we don’t all virtue signal to the extent that Mr Lineker does. 

‘I don’t even have to imagine, there are quite a few skeletons in Gary’s closet down the years. He’s obviously got some friends in very high places who have protected him, there’s no two ways about that.’

This isn’t the first time that Le Tissier has criticised Lineker.

In December he described Lineker as ‘special’ and stated that he ‘never done anything wrong in his life’. Le Tissier had previously lost his role on Sky Sports and as a Southampton ambassador as a result of his opinions. 

Lineker and Le Tissier have frequently clashed over their contrasting political beliefs

Le Tissier said: ‘Yeah, Gary was one of those blue ticks that I was talking about earlier that like to jump on anything I say.

‘But you know, Gary’s a very special human being, he’s never done any wrong in his life.

Le Tissier stated that the disagreement between him and Lineker stemmed from their opposing political views.

He said: ‘(It was over) opinions, he’s on the leftist side of left on the political spectrum, and I’m more in the middle, and maybe veer slightly towards the right, although there’s some things on the left that I’d agree with.’