Gary Lineker brands America ‘extraordinarily racist country’ weeks after aiming at Qatar | Football | Sport
Gary Lineker has defended his on-air comments about the controversy surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by aiming new criticism at one of the tournament’s 2026 co-hosts, the United States. The BBC presenter has described the US as ‘an extraordinarily racist country’ amid Qatari backlash over his public political views.
Hassan Al-Thawadi, the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, previously slammed Lineker for criticising Qatar after refusing to ‘engage’ off-air. He spent the opening few minutes of the BBC’s World Cup coverage addressing the concerns around the tournament after the broadcaster didn’t air the opening ceremony.
Lineker touched on the treatment of migrant workers, attitudes toward LGBTQ+ relationships and women’s rights and freedom of expression. And after being accused of not speaking up about issues in other countries, he proved those suggestions wrong by aiming a jab at the World Cup’s next co-hosts.
In an interview with The News Agents, he said: “We pointed facts out at the beginning of the tournament; those facts remain. So, lots of people were killed doing the stadiums. Yes, the stadiums are extraordinary, but at a great price. Homophobia is an issue here, women’s rights are a little bit of an issue here.
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“For me, it was always really more about the corruption side of it because, as I said previously, I think pretty much every country, including our own, has got issues. And we’re off to America in four years’ time, with Canada and Mexico, but obviously, America’s an extraordinarily racist country.
“So, there are always issues, but it was more the fact that we just pointed out a few facts and particularly the aspect of it being so corrupt – they said it was going to be summer, and it was in the winter. I don’t think anything’s particularly changed, but it’s been a cracking tournament, but that’s football; football is a wonderful sport.”
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Lineker also bit back at Al-Thawadi’s claims that he ignored his requests to talk before the tournament, insisting he or BBC have no record of his contact. “I doubt they’ve been watching [the BBC’s coverage], to be perfectly honest,” Lineker explained.
“There was one bit where the guy went on a radio station back home, I think he one of the organisers, and said he tried to reach out to me time and time again to get an interview, and that, frankly, wasn’t true at all, neither to myself nor my agent. And then he said it was through the BBC and the BBC have no record of it whatsoever.”
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