Gary Lineker banned from Jewish friend's memorial after BBC exit forced U-turn
The son of Jewish football journalist Brian Glanville, who passed away last month, has said he won't allow Gary Lineker "anywhere near" his father's memorial service after his recent post on zionism
The son of Brian Glanville has said that he won't let Gary Lineker"anywhere near" his father's memorial due to his contentious remarks about Israel. Glanville was a highly respected football journalist who died at 93 last month, becoming friends with Lineker during his early playing career at Leicester City.
The Glanvilles had contemplated inviting Lineker to give an address at St Bride's Church on Fleet Street in London in memory of the veteran journalist, who was Jewish. However, plans for Lineker's involvement were abandoned after he sparked controversy by reposting a video on anti-Zionism featuring an image of a rat, leading to his accelerated exit from the BBC.
Mark Glanville said: "I can't have somebody coming to speak at my dad's memorial service who, though not anti-Semitic, is someone who is giving ammunition to people who are anti-Semites. Once you share a picture of a rat which is associated with Nazis, you really are crossing a line."
Nazi propaganda infamously used rat imagery to vilify Jews, and Mark noted that his father would not have approved of Lineker participating in the service despite respecting his talents on the pitch and as a presenter of Match Of The Day, reports the Daily Record.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mark shared how the Holocaust left a profound impression on his father, born in 1931, who also faced anti-Jewish bigotry while attending Charterhouse School in Surrey. He said: "Dad was passionate about Israel.
"He was a schoolboy during the Second World War but he was aware of what happened. He saw Israel, after all the utter horror, like so many Jews, as a country that was Jewish and where Jews could thrive as Jews and be safe.
"I do not think Lineker is anti-Semite. But he does single out almost exclusively Israel, as so many people do, with the type of criticism that gives no context of what happened on October 7 and what has triggered it all.
"As he is such a major public figure, he is lending a lot of fuel to people who have a very different agenda and who really don't just hate Israel, but also detest Jews. I believe Lineker really cares about issues but I wish he would talk about what is going on in Syria, in Sudan and with women in Afghanistan."
Reflecting on his father's legacy, Mark added: "We felt that for a man of such stature, dad deserved a proper memorial service and my sister suggested inviting Gary Lineker to speak, saying that he had really loved dad's work. But I said that while this was undoubtedly the case, loads of other people were admirers of dad's work as well.
"I then said there was no way Lineker was coming anywhere near it. She was very understanding as I explained that in my view Lineker was an exceptionally talented footballer and that is where it should have stayed."
At 64, Lineker was already due to step down from Match of the Day at the end of the season, though it was intended he would continue to cover the FA Cup and World Cup for the BBC. Despite his firm stance that he "would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic", his exit from the Corporation occurred last month after the row concerning the depiction of a rat.
He said: "However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action."
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