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Why We Should Stand By Gary Lineker Following His Confrontation With The S*n

Why We Should Stand By Gary Lineker Following His Confrontation With The S*n

He's done nothing wrong.

Mark McGowan

Mark McGowan

Recently, as I'm sure you're all aware, people called for Gary Lineker to be sacked from his position as host of Match of the Day.

By people, I'm talking about The S*n, which printed a front page with the headline: 'OUT ON HIS EARS', claiming he was 'peddling' lies about migrants.

People have flooded in their messages of support to the veteran football pundit, standing by him.

Most of you, I'm hoping, will have stood by Gary after his comments.

The former Leicester, Tottenham and England striker made a simple comment saying that "the treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless", a comment he's well within his rights to make. The S*n then ran with the story that he was some kind of disgraced journalist that the BBC should immediately cut ties with.

At this point I'd like to point out a very small, but equally important detail in this debacle. Across Gary's social media platforms, the same as any other journalist, he will maintain that anything he posts are 'his views, and not the views of any other person or company'.

The 55-year-old is not a spokesperson for the Beeb, nor is he their main man. He is his own man, he is a freelancer for a corporation, he is someone who is entitled to an opinion.

Whether you think that the pundit's comments are 'peddling lies' is up to you. That's your opinion.

Freedom of speech is what's great about this country - you can say what you like. Gary has not been allowed to do this. They'd have been better off running with the headline: 'Man Speaks His Mind About A Subject He's Well Entitled To Talk About And Has A Good Point'. Admittedly, it's not as catchy - but what would you expect from a paper that claimed Ched Evans was a slime ball, and then flaunted a naked woman right alongside it.

The current Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and his predecessor Ed Miliband, both put it the best they probably could have, saying that Lineker's passion and solidarity is what makes Britain great.

The paper also labelled the presenter as "jug-eared" and a "leftie luvvie", calling him out for being a decent human, it seems.

Lineker stood up to The S*n, acknowledging that he was getting a 'spanking', but stood by what he said. Which is something we should all do.

Today he offered himself up for insults, disagreement and arguments, but told people to allow him to have his opinion.

We should all stand by Gary Lineker, who, at this point during a rather odd tabloid confrontation, is yet to do anything wrong.

Featured image credit: PA

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Gary Lineker