GARY LINEKER has responded in classy fashion after his Match of the Day mentor told him to “get on with the football”.
Des Lynam was the face of the much-loved BBC football show until his departure to ITV in 1999.
That allowed former Tottenham and England star Lineker, 62, to take the top job and become presenter of MOTD.
He has since credited the 80-year-old as one of his broadcasting inspirations and the ex-striker was even dubbed “Mini Des” earlier on during his career.
Lynam, 80, and Lineker have remained friends since but the veteran has now revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that he does not like his successor’s increasingly political social media output.
Lineker hit the headlines earlier this year when he was taken off TV after a tweet criticising the Conservative Party’s immigration policies.
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That sparked a massive protest amongst his fellow football pundits and Match of the Day staff.
He was also outspoken about Qatar’s role as World Cup hosts at the end of last year regarding their human rights record.
Now Lynam has said: “I like him as a chap, I like him as a broadcaster, but there are some areas he should stay out of.
“For example, this World Cup was in Qatar and he went very strongly about the limitations of living in Qatar – he’s right, there are – but he’s not the right person to say it…get on with the football!”
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Lineker was sent Lynam’s message via social media via TV personality Adil Ray, who also referred back to Lynam’s previous 2013 endorsement of Nigel Farage.
But Lineker opted for a more diplomatic response rather than engage in a back and forth by responding: “Des is entitled to his opinion…as, of course, am I.”
After Lineker returned from his brief suspension earlier this year, he then doubled down on his sentiments during an interview with Men’s Health Magazine.
He said: “When I sent that tweet, it honestly never even crossed my mind that it would lead to where it went.
“I've worked with refugees' charities for years. So, when I saw the Suella Braverman film, I said I thought it was pretty awful.
“Then the 'stick to football' people weighed in and I replied to one of them, just saying there was no massive influx, the UK takes far fewer refugees than other European countries, this is a cruel policy, and the language used in the debate reminds us of the debate in Germany in the 1930s. I think that is factually accurate.”
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