the case of his statements, from the beginning – Corriere.it

Papa Barry was a greengrocer, like his grandfather and great-grandfather. He left school after middle school: in ’76 he was drafted into the youth team of Leicester, his hometown team. He still has 16 years to go, but he already tames the ball with the touch of the predestined. With the blessing of Barry and Margaret, his parents, he abandons his childhood sports of rugby and cricket. Not yet The Great Linneckand it will take a while for it to become so: for nine years Gary Lineker, the great ex suspended by the BBC for an unwelcome tweet on the conservative policies on immigration of the Rishi Sunak government, a gifted but normal striker of a provincial team, can afford the car and the terraced house on the outskirts of Leicester, where the city slopes down to the countryside. He doesn’t score a goal internationally until he’s 24, and then nobody stops him.

With this background behind me, second son of a working class family able to give Gary an edge by baptizing him Middle name Winston like Churchill (same day of birth as the prime minister: November 30), Lineker in fifteen years of irreproachable career – never an expulsion, but not even a warning, if not a record we are close — first became the most recognizable footballer in the United Kingdom and then the most listened to and respected television commentator, top talent of the BBC with a millionaire contract, quick and clear judgments like the style with which he packed the goals (many, 238 spread over five teams from Leicester to Everton, from Barcelona to Tottenham, including a brief final digression in Japan, to do the ATM at the Nagoya Grampus: venial sin), fourth all-time top scorer (80 appearances, 48 ​​goals) in the history of England after Rooney, Kane and the myth Charlton, the ’66 world champion who saw himself totally in the dry style of the heir, gifted with class, agility, excellent technique and a above-average football intelligence, the dowry that Linneck brought with him on the microphone.

I am quite balanced, very little moody. I’m still the same most of the time: some might call me boring says Lineker in an interview with Guardian that tries to unmask its defects, without finding any unforgivable ones. The real Gary is what you see: no malice. Severe but never unpleasant (he spared no barbs even at Qatar, which took the 2022 World Cup with corruption), well, able to criticize harshly if necessary without throwing blades of malice (typical, in certain frustrated exes and/or doctors) on the players, who appreciate it for this very reason: they never feel judged. It is no coincidence that one of the favorite anecdotes since going behind the microphone concerns Pel, which the BBC’s flagship sports broadcast Match of the Day managed to bring to the studio precisely thanks to the Brazilian legend’s desire to meet the top scorer of the ’86 World Cup (6 goals in Mexico). The embrace with O Rei moves Gary to tears: I finally meet the Great Linneck says Pel. For me it was like meeting Elvis Presley recalls Lineker.

With these premises, it is not difficult to understand why Gary Lineker’s tweet of 7 March at 2.25pm ​​London time (We welcome far fewer refugees than other major European countries, a terribly cruel policy aimed at the most vulnerable people in a language not unlike that of Germany in the 1930s), which expressed the personal opinion of a sports commentator on English public television, unleashed the domino effect that risked causing a government crisis. The indignation of the Internet, the fake indifference of the prime minister Sunak (The question does not concern us), the suspension of Lineker, the clamorous wave of solidarity from colleagues, active players, personalities from the world of English football who, starting with Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, refused to participate in the BBC football broadcasts forcing the broadcaster to broadcast music instead of images and words.

Could this have ever happened in Italy? No. State reasons above all; each for himself for his salary, e article 21 of the Constitution for all others.

It’s not just the six goals in Mexico or the hat-trick against Real Madrid with the blaugrana shirt that allowed him to take home the ball of the Clasico to corroborate the charisma that the Alfa male Gary Lineker carried around the fields in his dual role, footballer and ex. the mirror image of an irreproachable career, crossed with head held high and ball and chain managing to gain respect from all opponents without ever committing a yellow card foul (not even one), let alone a red card, a slight, a hint of a fight . Authoritative in the penalty area of ​​Europe and the world, without the need to elbow. I’ve never been the best footballer — admits Gary in an interview with Guardian —, but for a small number of seasons I was the top scorer, and this impressed me in the memory of the fans. The transition from playing football to retirement was not easy: in that phase many colleagues get lost. Salary drops, you go from being famous to not being recognized. Television has helped me compensate: behind a TV program there is a team, a captain, a form to follow. When the red light on the camera comes on, the adrenaline rushes. With the advantage that I no longer have the problem of missing a penalty throwing the whole of England into consternation….

All of England (or at least most of it) with Gary Lineker. In defense, even before the most respected and loved sports icon, of the freedom of opinion guaranteed by the Human Rights Act. The director general of the BBC, Tim Davis, apologized to taxpayers, admitting that Saturday was a difficult day for the broadcaster and promising to work hard to resolve the situation. The BBC press release an implied admission of guilt: Success will be to get Gary back on the air: he won’t resign.
God bless the King, and all the censors of the Kingdom.