Matt Le Tissier reveals the complete causes he believes he was sacked by Sky Sports in 2020 – as ostracised pundit rips into former employers after NDA ‘expires’

Matt Le Tissier has revealed the reasons he believes he was sacked by Sky Sports, admitting he became ‘unpopular’ with bosses at the broadcasting giant.

Le Tissier, 56, was dismissed in August 2020 alongside fellow Soccer Saturday panellists Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson, and later blamed the decision on his refusal to wear a Black Lives Matter badge and his opinions on the Covid pandemic.

The former Southampton striker was also accused of putting lives at risk after sharing anti-vaccine conspiracy theories in 2021 and was later met with a fierce backlash on social media after spreading contentious views on the war in Ukraine.

Le Tissier also posted a thread questioning the legitimacy of 9/11, a stance that led to his former colleague Jeff Stelling labelling the post ‘total and absolute b*******’.

He has since conducted several interviews on his departure but is no longer under an NDA, a development he claims now allows him to criticise the company. 

And, speaking on the Disrupters podcast, Le Tissier once again addressed his axing.

Matt Le Tissier has revealed the reasons he believes he was sacked by Sky Sports

Le Tissier (second from left) was dismissed alongside fellow Soccer Saturday panellists Charlie Nicholas (right) and Phil Thompson (second from right) in August 2020

He later pinned the decision on his controversial opinions on BLM and the Covid pandemic

‘I was allowed to say what happened, I just wasn’t allowed to criticise them,’ said Le Tissier. ‘So I could say what happened but I wasn’t allowed to have an opinion on it. 

‘I probably made myself unpopular with the bosses by, after the first programme, I refused to wear the Black Lives Matter badge anymore. 

‘Around the time they were trying to start the Premier League back up again in 2020, the teams in the relegation zone were the only ones who were highlighting the fact they were having Covid cases. They didn’t really want the season to start up again.

‘They wanted the money from the TV deal the following season. They didn’t want to get relegated and lose all that money. That got me a complaint from one of the CEOs of a Premier League football club, who rang in to Sky. I had the phone call from that. 

‘Basically, it was just everything I was putting on social media, it was going against not only the government narrative, but the mainstream media were all in on it. 

‘And so, that obviously included my employers, which were Sky News. Obviously, I was in the football department so I viewed that as a complete separate entity. 

‘If I’m working for Sky Sports, I’m going to criticise Sky News because I don’t believe they’re doing things properly.’

Pressed for his views on Sky as an employer, Le Tissier added: ‘I don’t think they’re a particularly good company to work for. I’m still in contact with people who still work there, who can tell me how it’s changed, not for the better, over the last few years. 

Le Tissier spent 15 years with the broadcasting giant but says is now free to criticise them

He was accused of putting lives at risk after sharing Covid-19 conspiracy theories 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, 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 bit mad’ over his opinions.

When asked if he has paid a price for his views, he replied: ‘I guess the price people will probably point to is 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 that it had something to do with my posts on social media.

‘So, possibly my job. I guess in the early days probably my family and close friends thought I’d gone a bit mad because I was kind of going against the narrative and they thought I had mental health issues, quite frankly.

‘I knew that I didn’t and thankfully I stuck to my guns and what’s transpired over the last two or three years – a lot of them have now come to realise that I wasn’t mad and that I was actually talking a lot of sense.

‘I wasn’t right about everything but I was right about a lot of things.’

A Sky statement announcing Le Tissier’s exit 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 they will leave us with our sincere thanks and very best wishes.’ 

Sky declined to comment when approached by Mail Sport.