Gary Lineker pressures BBC into DELETING bizarre tweet mocking up Wayne Rooney

BBC Sport has deleted a bizarre tweet mocking up Wayne Rooney as a Peaky Blinder following his sacking by Birmingham City - after being told to do so by Gary Lineker.

The corporation posted a tweet which appeared to poke fun at Rooney after he was dismissed from his role at St Andrew's after nine defeats from 15 games in charge.

Following the announcement, BBC Sport's account on X tweeted the message: 'By order of the Peaky Blinders, Wayne Rooney has been sacked by Birmingham City.'

The post was accompanied by an image of Rooney in a flat cap and suit, reminiscent of the hit show's main cast - but it appeared to infuriate BBC employee Lineker, with the Match of the Day host replying to the message with the command: 'Delete this.'

It comes after Lineker was briefly suspended by the BBC last March after making a controversial post on X, then known as Twitter, which compared the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with that of 1930s Germany.

Lineker was at the centre of an impartiality row after criticising the announcement - and was briefly asked by the broadcaster to take a step back from Match Of The Day.

But pundits including Ian Wright and Alan Shearer refused to appear on the show without Lineker, and the former England footballer was reinstated after three days.

The scandal led to the BBC strengthening social media guidelines for staff on issues of impartiality and civility.

In September, the corporation said presenters on flagship shows must not endorse or attack a political party, criticise the character of individual politicians in the UK, comment on political debate during a UK general election or referendum, or take up an official role in campaigning groups.

Then in December, Lineker was among