The son of the late football journalist Brian Glanville has said that he won't let "anywhere near" his father's memorial service due to his criticisms of Israel. Glanville, a respected former Daily Express sports reporter who died at the age of 93 last month, was Jewish and had been friends with Lineker since the ex-footballer's early days at .

The family had contemplated inviting Lineker to speak at a service at St Bride's Church on London's Fleet Street. However, this was before Lineker was forced to depart the after sharing an anti-Zionist post featuring an illustration of a rat. Mark Glanville said: "I can't have somebody coming to speak at my Dad's memorial service who, though not anti-Semitic, is someone who is giving ammunition to people who are anti-Semites. Once you share a picture of a rat, which is associated with Nazis, you really are crossing a line."

The Nazis used images of rats to depict Jews, and Mark added that his father would not have wanted Lineker to speak, despite his respect for him as a player and presenter. He told that the horrors of the deeply affected his father, who was born in 1931 and experienced anti-Semitic abuse at the fee-paying Charterhouse School in Surrey.

Mark said: "Dad was passionate about Israel. He was a schoolboy during the Second World War but he was aware of what happened.

"He saw Israel, after all the utter horror, like so many Jews, as a country that was Jewish and where Jews could thrive as Jews and be safe. I do not think Lineker is anti-Semite. But he does single out almost exclusively Israel, as so many people do, with the type of criticism that gives no context of what happened on October 7 and what has triggered it all.

"As he is such a major public figure, he is lending a lot of fuel to people who have a very different agenda and who really don't just hate Israel, but also detest Jews. I believe Lineker really cares about issues but I wish he would talk about what is going on in Syria, in Sudan and with women in Afghanistan."

Reflecting on his father's legacy, Mark added: "We felt that for a man of such stature, Dad deserved a proper memorial service and my sister suggested inviting Gary Lineker to speak, saying that he had really loved Dad's work. But I said that while this was undoubtedly the case, loads of other people were admirers of Dad's work as well.

"I then said there was no way Lineker was coming anywhere near it. She was very understanding as I explained that in my view Lineker was an exceptionally talented footballer and that is where it should have stayed."

Lineker, 64, was set to leave Match of the Day at season's end while still covering the and World Cup for the BBC. However, he ultimately left the corporation last month after sharing the rodent image, despite maintaining he "would never consciously repost anything antisemitic."

He said: "However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action."