“I had a tear in my eye” – Gary Lineker reveals how he was reduced to tears after Ian Wright and Alan Shearer boycotted Match of the Day

BBC pundit Gary Lineker has thanked his peers for their emotional show of support during his fall-out with the broadcasting company. Lineker was suspended from his role on the Match of the Day show but immediately received support from Ian Wright and Alan Shearer.

The BBC eventually reinstated the former England striker following a massive public outcry against their decision.

Speaking on The Rest is Politics podcast, Lineker said:

"It was funny. I was in a restaurant, and then in the back of the car, and firstly when Ian Wright pulled out of the show, and then when Alan did as well, Alan Shearer, and I must admit I had a tear in my eye."

The issue arose when Lineker tweeted about the British government's controversial policy to prevent the entry of small boats through the English channel. He explained his position in a tweet, saying:

"There is no huge influx [of refugees]. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”

The Match of the Day show on March 11, following Lineker being asked to step down, occurred without the likes of Wright and Shearer as well. Alongside the former Barcelona striker, the entire BBC commentary team also stepped down, plunging the show into crisis. Instead of the normal show, they ran a 20-minute highlight show.

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Gary Lineker 'bewildered' by response following Match of the Day incident

Gary Lineker has revealed his thoughts on the response to his tweet.

Gary Lineker has claimed that he was shocked by the response he has received to his tweets criticizing the government.

The former England striker, a pundit on BBC's Match of the Day program, was asked to step down temporarily following his expression on the social media platform.

Speaking on The Rest is Politics podcast, he said:

“I’m still bewildered by it. I think it was so disproportionate.”

Later, Lineker went on to add that the BBC's director-general Tim Davie was well aware that the pundit would actively speak about the refugee situation and the climate crisis.

Gary Lineker said:

“We had a discussion, and I said to Tim there are two things I’ll continue to talk up on, I will not back down, and he agreed, one of them was about the refugee crisis and the other was about climate change.”