Six times politicians should have been shown the red card for talking about football

Gary Lineker has caused an almighty fuss for his comments about the government's migrant policy, which he compared to scenes from 1930s Germany.

It didn't go down too well, with many commentators and members of the media criticising the former England international for using such language about the current UK government.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

It wasn't just the media though. The likes of Suella Braverman, Penny Mordaunt and James Cleverly led the criticism from the government side of things calling the ex-England international's comments "offensive."

The long-time Match of the Day presenter has now reportedly been forced to 'step back' from his role on the highlights show until an agreement can be reached on his use of social media.

Considering that politicians can now effectively force a footballer presenter out of a job where he just has to talk about the sport for his views, this got us thinking about the numerous times that politicians have spoken about football and should have been given the proverbial red card.

Boris Johnson waves a flag

During the Euros in 2021, then prime minister Johnson showed everyone just how committed he is to all things footie by standing on the street outside Downing Street and waving the England flag and decorating the exterior of the gaff in all things England.

It didn't appear as genuine as he perhaps wanted.

Johnson wears England top over his suit

If that wasn't cringe enough, he made an appearance at the England v Denmark Euro 2020 game at Wembley, wearing an England shirt with his name on the back, over his shirt and tie. It didn't look like the most comfortable outfit.

Getty

Johnson perches on a table to watch a game

This is the last time we will mention our cursed former PM, promise. But who watches a game like this?

Johnson, apparently.

Priti Patel says "football's coming home"

Despite being one of the politicians involved in stirring up nonsense about taking the knee before games during last year's Euros, Patel celebrated an England win by posting an image of her cheering in an England top.

People found it disingenuous.

Rishi Sunak fills out a wallchart

The new prime minister, who is a self-confessed Southampton shared a video prior to the start of the 2022 World Cup where he wished England and Wales the best of luck during the tournament. However, he chose to do this by filling out a wallchart before the tournament began in a manner that just didn't look right.

David Cameron forgets which football team he supports

Former prime minister David Cameron had quite a history with football, mostly for forgetting which team he supposedly supports. Back in 2015, he made a speech where he mentioned that he supported West Ham United. However, on many previous occasions he had stated that he supported another team that plays in claret and blue; Aston Villa. Speaking afterward he said: "I had what Natalie Bennett described as a brain fade. I’m a Villa fan ... I must have been overcome by something ... this morning. But there we are, these things sometimes happen when you are on the stump."

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.