BREAKING NEWS Gary Lineker begins final BBC appearance with cheeky joke on Match of the Day as £1.4million-per-year star says farewell after axing following anti-Semitism row
Gary Lineker subtly hinted that his career at the BBC 'wasn't meant to end this way' as he began his final Match of the Day show.
'It wasn't meant to end this way but with the title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about,' he began.
Lineker was condemned after sharing a pro-Palestine Instagram video which featured an emoji of a rat, with critics accusing him of promoting a familiar anti-Semitic slur.
The Match Of The Day presenter and former England football captain posted a video in which Canadian-Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu attacks Israel's war in Gaza that had a cartoon image of a rat on screen throughout.
Images of rats and other vermin were regularly used as tropes by Nazi Germany to depict Jewish people, as many of Lineker's critics pointed out.
The 64-year-old confirmed his departure from the corporation earlier this month and 'apologised unreservedly' for his actions, saying he was unaware of the meaning of the symbol and added: 'I would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic – it goes against everything I stand for'.
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