Gary Lineker has slammed the Foreign Secretary for telling LGBT football fans to be “respectful” of World Cup hosts Qatar.
The Match of the Day host, 61, hit out after Tory James Cleverly urged supporters to show “a little bit of flex and compromise” in the Muslim country, where being homosexual is illegal.
Lineker said: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything gay. Is that the message?”
It comes as Qatari officials stopped campaigner Peter Tatchell from holding an LGBT rights protest in the capital Doha.
Mr Cleverly said he has spoken to local officials about gay fans going to the World Cup, which starts on November 20.
He added: “They want to make sure that football fans are safe, secure and enjoy themselves.
“And they know that that means they are going to have to make some compromises in terms of what is an Islamic country with a very different set of cultural norms to our own.”
Qatar has also faced scrutiny over the living and working conditions of thousands of migrants working on tournament construction projects.
Lineker’s remarks come less than two weeks after an exclusive interview with the Mirror in which he vowed to use the World Cup to highlight rights abuses in Qatar.
The former England striker, who will present the BBC ’s coverage of the tournament, said he knew of two gay Premier League stars thinking of coming out.
Comedian Frankie Boyle has revealed he did not want to film a documentary on the Qatar World Cup on moral and safety grounds.
He said it would be a “risk” to make a critical film there.
