Gary Lineker's most controversial posts - from Rwanda and Brexit to Gaza

Gary Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid on-air presenter, is to leave the corporation in a matter of days.

The Match Of The Day host will step away from the broadcaster at the end of this month, with his last appearance expected on 25 May, the last day of the Premier League season. His exit comes after he "apologised unreservedly" for sharing a social media post that featured a rat - used in Nazi propaganda to dehumanise Jewish people - and said he would "never knowingly share anything antisemitic".

It was the latest controversial post by the 64-year-old, who has found himself at the centre of several rows over his social media usage, most of which involve him sharing his political views, which go against the BBC's rules on impartiality. In a statement on Monday, Lineker said: "I care deeply about the game, and about the work I've done with the BBC over many years.

As I've said, I would never consciously repost anything antisemitic - it goes against everything I stand for. "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." Here is a round-up of the pundit's most contentious comments as he prepares to leave the BBC. Gaza documentary Although not via social media, earlier this year, Lineker was one of 500 media personalities who condemned the BBC for pulling the documentary Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone after it emerged the child narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who had worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture.

In an open letter addressed to BBC director general Tim Davie, chairman Samir Shah and outgoing chief content officer Charlotte Moore, Lineker joined hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists who called the decision to remove the documentary "politically motivated censorship". The presenter later said the BBC had "capitulated.