Matt Le Tissier has revealed the reasons why he believes Sky Sports sacked him, admitting he became “unpopular” with bosses at the broadcasting giant.
Le Tissier, 56, was fired in August 2020 along with fellow Soccer Saturday panelists Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson, later attributing the decision to his refusal to wear a Black Lives Matter badge and his views on the pandemic. Covid.
The former Southampton striker was also accused of putting lives at risk after sharing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories in 2021 and then received a fierce backlash on social media after spreading controversial views about the war in Ukraine.
Le Tissier also posted a thread questioning the legitimacy of 9/11, a stance that led his former colleague Jeff Stelling to label the post a “complete and utter doom.”
He has since conducted several interviews following his departure, but is no longer under a confidentiality agreement, something he claims now allows him to criticize the company.
AND, speaking on the Disrupters podcastLe Tissier again addressed his dismissal.
Matt Le Tissier has revealed the reasons why he believes he was sacked by Sky Sports
Le Tissier (second from left) was sacked along with fellow Soccer Saturday panelists Charlie Nicholas (right) and Phil Thompson (second from right) in August 2020.
He later attributed the decision to his controversial views on BLM and the Covid pandemic.
“I was allowed to say what happened, but I was not allowed to criticize them,” Le Tissier said. 'So I was able to say what happened but I wasn't allowed to have an opinion on it.
“I probably made myself unpopular with the bosses because, after the first show, I refused to wear the Black Lives Matter badge anymore.
“When they were trying to restart the Premier League in 2020, the teams in the relegation zone were the only ones highlighting the fact that they had Covid cases. They really didn't want the season to start again.
'They wanted the money from the television agreement for the next season. They didn't want to go down and lose all that money. That prompted a complaint from one of the chief executives of a Premier League football club, who called Sky. I got the phone call about that.
'Basically, it was everything I was putting on social media, it went against not only the government's narrative, but the mainstream media was involved.
'And that obviously included my employers, which were Sky News. Obviously, I was in the football department, so I saw it as a completely separate entity.
“If I work for Sky Sports, I will criticize Sky News because I don't think they are doing things correctly.”
Asked his opinion of Sky as an employer, Le Tissier added: “I don't think it is a particularly good company to work for. I am still in contact with people who still work there and who can tell me how it has changed, not for the better, over the years. last years.
Le Tissier spent 15 years at the broadcasting giant but says he is now free to criticize them
He was accused of putting lives at risk after sharing conspiracy theories about Covid-19 in 2021
Le Tissier became a Premier League legend after his heroics for Southampton in the 1990s.
'I'm not angry, I'm not bitter. I had 15 great years working there, I loved it. It was a fantastic part of my life. But things change and you move on.'
In an interview with GB News, Le Tissier admitted that his family and close friends thought he had “gone a little crazy” over his views.
When asked if he had paid a price for his opinions, he responded: “I guess the price people will probably point to is that I lost my job.” Sky may tell you something different.
'They told me they just wanted to take the show in a different direction, but they didn't deny it had something to do with my social media posts.
—Then, possibly it's my job. I guess at first my family and close friends probably thought I had gone a little crazy because it went against the narrative and, frankly, they thought I had mental health issues.
“I knew that wasn't the case and luckily I stuck to my guns and what's happened over the last two or three years – a lot of them have now realized that I wasn't angry and I was actually talking a lot of sense.
“He wasn't right about everything, but he was right about a lot of things.”
A statement from Sky announcing Le Tissier's departure said: “We are changing some parts of our football coverage – Matt, Charlie and Phil have done a great job for us over the years and will leave us with our sincere thanks and our best wishes.” '
sport mail has approached Sky for comment.