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Football

10th Jul 2021

Gary Neville defends fans for booing other country’s anthems

Kieran Galpin

Gary Neville

Another reminder that sometimes we should just be quiet

Gary Lineker has called out what he called the “classless” fans who boo during the national anthems of opposition nations.

In a tweet, the former England international and current BBC host urged fans to refrain from doing it during the final on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter, Lineker wrote: “If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket for the final, please, please don’t boo the Italian anthem. A/it’s an absolute belter and worth listening to. B/ It’s bloody rude, disrespectful and utterly classless.”

Gary Neville, meanwhile, had a different take on the subject and questioned whether booing another team’s anthem really is “that bad and disrespectful.”

‘When I played in the different countries and our anthem was booed I always took it as the opposition fans trying to unsettle us, drown our fans out and never as some kind of attack on us as people,” said Neville.

“Same when we did it other teams. Is it really that bad and disrespectful?”