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Gary Lineker criticises Home Office’s treatment of refugee he hosted: ‘He said it was hell’-Rachael O'Connor-Entertainment – Metro
The former footballer hosted a refugee from Turkey in his Surrey home.
Gary Lineker hosted a refugee fleeing Turkey and says his experience with the Home Office was ‘hell’ (Picture: WireImage)
Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker has criticised the Home Office’s treatment of a refugee who stayed in his home.
The 61-year-old former England striker revealed in a new interview how he took in a 26-year-old man from Turkey who was caught up in a military coup.
However, Lineker says his guest escaped 18 months of imprisonment in Turkey only to endure ‘hell’ in the UK’s asylum system.
The sports expert and BBC presenter had previously offered his Surrey home to a refugee from Balochistan, Pakistan, and more recently welcomed the Turkish refugee.
Speaking about his second time hosting a refugee, he told The Daily Mirror: ‘He’s a really smart kid and wants to be a rocket scientist, actually.
‘He was with us about a month and was such a sweet kid and has now gone to university.’
The star hosted the young man in his home in Surrey (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)
Reflecting on the young man’s escape from Turkey, Lineker went on: ‘He got out, and then he spent 18 months in our Home Office system where he was treated like s***.
‘He said it was hell.’
His comments were published on the day he was found to have breached BBC impartiality rules over a comment he made about the Conservative Party having links to ‘Russian donors’ earlier this year.
The former footballer, now one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters, was admonished for sharing an article on Twitter about then-foreign secretary Liz Truss.
The interview comes as Lineker was admonished for breaching BBC partiality rules over a tweet about Liz Truss (Picture: BBC)
It had urged Premier League teams to boycott the Champions League final in Russia, with Lineker adding as a caption: ‘And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?’
Following the complaint, Lineker, a prolific user of Twitter with more than 8.5 million followers, pointed out that his post was prompted by an article on football, and it was intended as a comment on the sport rather than on politics.
But the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU) judged that ‘one of the purposes’ of his tweet was ‘to highlight a perceived inconsistency in the Conservative Party’s approach at a time when relations between the UK and Russia were the subject of significant public debate.’
They added: ‘For this reason, we found the tweet was in breach of the relevant Guidance and did not meet the BBC’s editorial standards on impartiality.’
The corporation said Lineker had declined to comment on the decision.
The TV personality has been outspoken of the human rights issues in Qatar ahead of the World Cup (Picture: Getty)
However the England star told the Mirror in the same interview that he would continue to speak out about issues, including gay rights, in the build-up to the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is outlawed.
He said he knows two Premier League stars who have been ‘very close’ to revealing their sexuality, adding: ‘It would be great if one or two of them came out during the World Cup. It would be amazing.’
Asked why the players had opted against revealing their sexuality, Linker added: ‘Fear. Fear of the unknown, I imagine. Perhaps they are worried about what their teammates might think, although they probably already know.
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Being gay in Qatar is a crime that carries a jail sentence of anything up to seven years, however chief organiser Nasser Al Khater insists nobody will be arrested for showing affection once the World Cup begins.
England skipper Harry Kane and Wales counterpart Gareth Bale both intend to wear One Love armbands during games to show support for LGBT+ rights in Qatar.
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MORE : Gary Lineker claims he knows two Premier League footballers who have been close to coming out
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