Gary Lineker deletes ‘misogynist’ tweet about England’s bra celebration

Gary Lineker has deleted a misogynist tweet he posted about Chloe Kelly’s goal celebration after she scored the winning goal in the Euro 2022 women’s final.

Kelly ripped her shirt off after scoring England’s second goal in extra-time as she celebrated with her teammates. As the scene unfolded, Lineker tweeted on Sunday saying “Kelly is England’s heroine, bra none.”

The former soccer player received claims of “casual sexism” and was quick to delete his comment as the replies filled with hundreds of jokes and messages of criticism. One user replied saying “Seriously Gary? An epic win, a game-changer for women’s sport, a call to arms for young girls who have been told they can’t. And you minimize this glory down to a joke about a woman’s clothing/underwear. Casual sexism is rife here and the @Lionesses deserve better.”

Even after the tweet was deleted, nothing is ever truly gone from the internet, and screenshots of the tweet continued to be passed around. “Now deleted but misogynist screenshots are for ever and ever and ever,” a feminist campaigner wrote, according to Yahoo Sports.

Lineker has declined to apologize for the sexist remarks even after the backlash. Karen Ingala Smith, chief executive of the Nia charity which campaigns against violence towards women, said “Please apologise for and condemn the sexist responses to your now deleted badly judged tweet.”

Lineker replied, saying “it was just a play on words given the celebration. I do rubbish like that constantly on here, including on men’s football. I’ve deleted it as many people didn’t see the game so missed the context.”