England yob with sick Maradona flag ‘applied to replace Gary Lineker on MOTD’

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    The England supporter who brought an odious Diego Maradona flag to Naples posted a bizarre application to replace Gary Lineker on Match of the Day.

    Jake Hepple’s ticket for the Three Lions’ away clash against Italy was cancelled by the FA shortly after he posted a picture of himself holding an England flag with ‘Diego’s in a box’ emblazoned over it. Considering Maradona has an almost God-like status amongst Napoli fans, the flag would have caused great offence. And given supporters had already been issued with a safety warning by the FA there were fears it could provoke trouble.

    The Burnley supporter has described himself as the “right wing king” and also been pictured alongside former English Defence League leader Stephen Yaxley Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson. And in the wake of the furore surrounding Lineker’s stand off with the BBC, Hepple ridiculed the situation by trying to put his own application in.

    Read More: England fan with sick Maradona flag is man who got sacked for 'White Lives Matter' stunt

    He uploaded a screenshot of an email he sent to the BBC where he offered to replace Lineker as host of the iconic show. His strange email read, “hello, first of all, I’d like to congratulate you on getting rid of Gary Lineker and co from Match of the Day.

    “There is no room for leftism in Britain. Secondly, I’d like to put my name forward to host Match of the Day from next Saturday. I’m known as the ‘right wing king’ around these parts so I can assure you there will be no social media posts promoting the influx of illegal migration. I stand totally against it.”

    Lineker was asked to step away from Match of the Day presenting after he uploaded a tweet criticising the language the Conservative Party have used to talk about migrants and refugees. But after his fellow pundits, colleagues, and commentators refused to present Match of the Day as a showing of solidarity, the BBC had to upload a shortened episode with no interviews, commentary, or analysis.

    The publicly funded broadcaster has since U-turned on their decision and reinstated the former Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur forward to his role.

    Meanwhile, it is not the first time Hepple’s views have gotten him into trouble.

    He was sacked from his job after organising a plane to fly over the Etihad Stadium with a ‘White Lives Matter’ banner behind it. He is also purported to have links to the Burnley ‘hooligan’ firm The Suicide Squad, whose members are believed to have helped crowdfund the banner and plane.

    While his ticket for England’s clash against Italy was cancelled, there could potentially be some further punishments. The FA said they “strongly condemn” Hepple’s flag stunt and also stated “the matter will be reviewed further” when they land back in England.

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    • England Football Team
    • Diego Maradona
    • Premier League

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