Gary Lineker has deleted a tweet labelling Britain's spending on a nuclear deterrent "madness" amid the crisis in Ukraine.
The Match of the Day host followed up his post with an explanation on why he deleted the tweet, admitting it was "ambiguous and therefore misinterpreted".
Lineker's initial tweet posted at 11.38am on Thursday, after news broke of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, read: "All those trillions spent on a so-called nuclear deterrent, madness."
Following an intense backlash on Twitter, Lineker took down the post and uploaded a second tweet, reading: "Deleted my tweet re Nuclear weapons as it was too ambiguous and therefore misinterpreted.
"To be clear it was a general wish that nukes didn't exist anywhere. They may have stopped wars, although hypothetical, thus far, but it only needs one madman to launch one, and we're all screwed."
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an overnight invasion of Ukraine following months of tension in the area.
Russia targeted military establishments on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with explosions being felt in the city centre, as the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law.
A number of world leaders have this Thursday issued statements, condemning Russia's decision to invade.
The promise of sanctions and hard action in response to the invasion have since been made.
Russia's actions will also affect the Champions League, Europa League and World Cup, with Ukrainian and Russian involvement in all three competitions.
St Petersburgh is set to host the Champions League final on May 28 this year but UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has called an extraordinary meeting of the organisation's executive committee.
The venue for the final is expected to be changed.
A statement read: "UEFA shares the international community's significant concern for the security situation developing in Europe and strongly condemns the ongoing Russian military invasion in Ukraine.
"As the governing body of European football, UEFA is working tirelessly to develop and promote football according to common European values such as peace and respect for human rights, in the spirit of the Olympic Charter.
"We remain resolute in our solidarity with the football community in Ukraine and stand ready to extend our hand to the Ukrainian people. We are dealing with this situation with the utmost seriousness and urgency.
"Decisions will be taken by the UEFA Executive Committee and announced tomorrow."
FIFA's plans for World Cup qualifying are also in crisis with the football associations of Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic announcing they will not travel to Russia.
The three federations have joined together to demand clarity on the situation.
A joint statement issued on Thursday read: "Based on the current alarming development in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including the security situation the Football Associations of Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic express their firm position that the playoff matches to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, scheduled for 24 and 29 March 2002, should not be played in the territory of the Russian Federation.
"The signatories to this appeal do not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there.
"The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations.
"Therefore, we expect FIFA and UEFA to react immediately and to present alternative solutions regarding places where these approaching playoff matches could be played."
For up to date information on the situation in Ukraine, follow the Daily Mirror's live blog here.
