Former English soccer star Gary Lineker has built a successful television career as a presenter and commentator for the BBC and other outlets. But he recently made one of the most unfortunate gaffes I've ever seen from any telelvision personality while doing Champions League highlights for Al Jazeera. As Montpellier's Karim Ait-Fana scores the opening goal against Schalke, he celebrates by dropping to his knees and lowering his face in a traditional Muslim prayer position.
Lineker remarks that Ait-Fana and teammate Younes Belhanda "ate grass."
Oh no.
That religious gaffe is bad enough on any network, but the fact that it took place on AL JAZEERA TELEVISION has led to an immediate backlash, as you'd expect. Lineker offered a short apology claiming ignorance of every player's religion, but he should have probably just stopped after "ignorance." Although I could possibly comprehend Lineker not knowing Ait-Fana was praying, that is a very common Muslim prayer position. When in doubt though, it's best to not joke about anyone eating grass. Unless that person is Les Miles, of course.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tcQo3CIjXtA
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