Gary Lineker adds ‘retweets are not endorsements’ disclaimer to social media profile following Israel row

19 January 2024, 20:59

Gary Lineker has added a ‘retweets are not endorsements’ disclaimer to his social media following a row over a post he reshared.

The Match of the Day host, 63, added the disclaimer to his bio on X, formerly Twitter.

He made the change to his profile after a fresh row broke out on the social media platform over a post he had reshared last week.

The post was from a pro-Palestinian campaign for Israel to be barred from all international games and tournaments “until it ends its grave violations of international law”.

The post - from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel - also included a statement from the Palestinian Football Association.

It called on Fifa and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to align with other global sporting bodies by introducing sanctions.

The post read: "The Palestinian Football Association calls on @iocmedia, @FIFAcom and all regional and int'l sports bodies to take an urgent stance on Israel’s grave violations of human rights and subject it to legal accountability measures."

The presenter later removed the tweet following backlash from Jewish leaders and MPs, as sources claimed he had misunderstood the post.

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Lineker had reportedly believed the tweet was a news article about Israel being barred from sporting tournaments, not a call for such a ban to take place.

A week since the row, Lineker has now added a “retweets are not endorsements” disclaimer to his bio.

Sources at The Telegraph said the presenter chose the add the disclaimer himself, as he has “always believed that reposts without comment do not signify approval or endorsement”.

It comes after his controversial comments last year, in which he said the government rhetoric over the Rwanda Bill was not dissimilar from 1930s Germany.

Tory MP Andrew Percy told The Telegraph at the time: "Gary Lineker is an ill-informed, ignorant commentator on the Middle East.

"The BDS movement [to boycott Israel] is a racist, anti-Semitic campaign and nobody who receives taxpayers' money working in the BBC should be endorsing a campaign that is widely understood to promote Jew hate."

Lee Anderson, the party's deputy chairman, said: “Licence fee payers are fed up of footing the bill for Lineker’s musings on international politics.

“It’s about time BBC bosses decided whether Gary’s right-on rubbish is in keeping with their social media rulebook.”