Wayne Lineker's 'own brand of excess and drunkenness' to blame for attack that saw him knocked out, politician says

15 June 2024, 07:24

Wayne Lineker is a "victim of his own brand of excess and drunkenness", a politician has said after the bar owner was knocked unconscious on the street.

The multimillionaire bar owner and brother of football star Gary Lineker was filmed being punched by a man in an Ibiza street surrounded by a large group of onlookers.

Footage shows Lineker, 62, holding up his arms to protect himself as the man moved forward to attack him.

He fell to the ground after being punched, with eyewitnesses saying he was unconscious for several minutes.

Lineker and his assailant are said to have got into the dispute after he intervened to stop a female friend in her twenties being pestered by the man and his friends.

Antonio Lorenzo, the leader of the socialist party on the local Sant Antoni council, suggested that Lineker was indirectly at fault for the attack through "his own brand of excess and drunkenness”.

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He said he was sorry Lineker had been attacked, but that these sorts of incidents come from the kind of tourism he promotes.

He added: "This will not be solved with more security measures; it will be solved with a change of the tourism model, something which is currently non-existent."

Protests have erupted in several Spanish tourist hotspots in recent months about overcrowding and concerns that too many holidaymakers are having a negative impact on locals.

Warning: The video below contains violence

Lineker himself said he was "very unfortunate" and things "could have been much worse".

In the post on Thursday, he said: "I wanted to write this post to let everyone know that I’m doing ok… I have a few stitches and a swollen lip.

"It could have been much worse so I count myself very fortunate I wasn’t standing 2 yards further back, as my head would have impacted the wall.

"Obviously the video is very disturbing to see especially for my family.

"The papers were very accurate and it was a simple case of me just trying to protect a girl from being harassed.

"Thank you everyone for all your messages of concern the support has been really overwhelming."