Gary Lineker has revealed he views scoring a spot on a Sunday newspaper “Woke List” of celebs and public figures as a “compliment”.

The Mail on Sunday included the BBC pundit in its tally of “woke” figures from British public life who “are most high-profile in their awakedness to perceived injustices in society – but who have also been accused of having an exaggerated fixation with such issues”.

Other celebrities making the record included Harry Potter actor Emma Watson and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Match of the Day host Lineker, 62, was taken off air by the BBC after being caught up in a row over impartiality in March.

He had in contrast the language used to launch a authorities asylum seeker coverage with Thirties Germany on X, previously often known as Twitter. During the Thirties the Nazi get together got here to energy.

Benching Lineker sparked a backlash and resulted in a lot of his fellow sports activities pundits, together with Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, boycotting Match of the Day.

The pundit was reinstated swiftly and later stated he was given a “standing ovation” in Marks and Spencer by buyers through the furore.

Speaking to the Telegraph about being included within the “Woke List” he stated: “I would ask you, what is ‘woke’? Is it a bad thing? Is it just referring to people who have some kind of social conscience?

“I don’t necessarily find being called woke an insult. So, it’s a strange one. But if you keep putting it out there that ‘woke is bad, woke is bad’, people will eventually believe that it is, whatever ‘woke’ may be.”

He added that “it just doesn’t make sense to me” and that he by no means feels insulted by being known as woke “because I think it’s a compliment”.

Lineker returned to his presenting obligation on March 18, the place he fronted reside protection of Manchester City's FA Cup quarter-final towards Burnley alongside Shearer and Micah Richards.

Following the incident, BBC director-general Tim Davie stated the company had commissioned an unbiased evaluate of its social media tips, notably for freelancers.

Mr Davie apologised for what he acknowledged had been "a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences" and described the BBC's dedication to freedom of expression and impartiality as a "difficult balancing act".