Gabby Logan ‘careful’ about what she posts online after Gary Lineker’s BBC migrant impartiality row

The BBC Sport presenter has weighed in on the scandal involving Lineker and Match of the Day
Gabby Logan says she’s “careful” about what she says online following Gary Lineker’s impartiality scandal
PA
Escher Walcott30 March 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Gabby Logan has said she now feels hesitant to post her opinions online, following Gary Lineker’s impartiality feud with the BBC.

Logan, 49, revealed that she is “careful” about what she says and considers the “repercussions” that could occur as a result, both professionally and personally.

The BBC Sport presenter told the Daily Star: “You’ve got to be careful how you express yourself, I think about what I say.

“Like anybody else who works at the BBC, I think about what the repercussions are going to be.”

Gary Lineker comments on Illegal Migration Bill
Logan’s comments come after Lineker was suspended by the BBC for his migrant tweets
PA

Lineker, 62, was suspended from BBC’s Match of the Day on March 7 after he compared the Government to Nazi Germany in a tweet. His comments were made as he discussed the Government’s migrant crackdown and their language used to officiate this.

Logan recalled Lineker having “terrible things’ said to him in response to his tweet, and urged a warning against getting into confrontations with “faceless” people online.

“Sometimes it’s easier not to say things on Twitter, because you enter into a debate with faceless people who you don’t know,” she said.

Logan has taken Lineker’s feud with the BBC as a warning when posting opinions
BBC / Nick Eagle

“Gary knows that better than everybody. He gets terrible things said back to him.”

Several sports pundits, including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, declined to appear on the BBC after Lineker’s suspension, and Match of the Day went ahead without hosts at the time as the host continued to receive mass support.

Logan was the only sports presenter that continued her post, covering the Six Nations tournament, as she said she “wasn’t involved with football department” during the debacle.

Lineker was later reinstated in his hosting position at the BBC, and claimed following the controversy that he had “an agreement” with BBC Director general Tim Davie that he could discuss the refugee crisis publicly.

Lineker told The Rest Is Politics podcast spin-off show Leading: “I’m still bewildered by it. I think it was so disproportionate.

“We had a discussion, and I said to Tim there are two things I’ll continue to talk up on, I will not back down, and he agreed, one of them was about the refugee crisis and the other was about climate change.”

Lineker added that, despite the fallout, he “loves the BBC” in the interview.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in