Former England and Southampton striker Matt Le Tissier has accused authority figures of hiding information about potential links between the Covid vaccine and footballers collapsing on the pitch during an appearance on Joey Barton’s new podcast.

Le Tissier has repeatedly pedalled conspiracy theories about the Covid vaccine over the past three years, and previously claimed that the jab may have caused more incidents of footballers collapsing due to suffering with heart problems.

He gave a passionate speech at a gala dinner in Leeds in September where he declared that he was carrying out research into the collapses, and speaking on Barton’s podcast he stated that his efforts had not been helped due to others withholding key data. 

‘I’ve always said, just going from my experiences, I’ve lived on this planet a long time and watched a lot of sport and I just knew I’d never seen young, fit, healthy sportspeople collapsing at the rates they’ve been collapsing over the last couple of years, and I knew that something was wrong and I felt like I needed to say something about it. 

Matt Le Tissier believes authority figures are hiding information about the Covid vaccine

He made the claims on Joey Barton’s podcast, who praised Le Tissier for his ‘stubbornness’

‘I couldn’t just sit there and keep watching the telly, it wasn’t just football either, lots of sportspeople were having heart problems and it was just ridiculous. It was just a massive elephant in the room that nobody would talk about. 

‘And I felt like somebody had to say something. Obviously I’ve got a little bit of a profile, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.’

Barton – who has sparked controversy in recent months with his views on women working in men’s football – suggested Le Tissier’s refusal to back down when questioning authority could be put down to sheer stubbornness.

Le Tissier, 55, agreed with this, as he hit out at the government’s handling of Covid.

‘I don’t think it’s [stubbornness] a particularly bad trait, especially when you’re fighting against corrupt organisations, and that’s what I believe our government are,’ Le Tissier added.

This is not the first time that Le Tissier has blamed corruption for global issues, as he has also slammed high-profile individuals and the media in recent years.

Le Tissier blasted David Beckham (right) for having his photo taken with Bill Gates (left)

Le Tissier previously implied Gates could be linked to the death of Tanzania president John Magafuli in 2021

Le Tissier blasted David Beckham for having his photo taken with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates during a conversation with former footballer David Cotterill on a podcast last year.

Le Tissier has regularly criticised Gates, questioning his involvement in the Covid vaccine. 

Back in 2021, he appeared to imply that Gates could be linked to the death of Tanzania president John Magafuli.

Magafuli died in March 2021 of reported heart complications just days after the country’s Prime Minister had declared he was ‘healthy and working hard’.

On Twitter, Le Tissier re-tweeted a post suggesting the media have ‘lied’ about certain events such as Russia’s massacre of Bucha in 2022

Le Tissier subsequently posted a screenshot of an article by The Guardian that had criticised Magafuli’s anti-vaxxer stance shortly before his death, and pointed out the piece was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The eight-cap England international has also previously suggested that the media blew Russia’s massacre of Bucha out of proportion in 2022, and questioned the legitimacy of the 9/11 disaster on social media last year.

His conspiracy theory on 9/11 was criticised by his former Soccer Saturday colleague Jeff Stelling, who accused him of talking ‘absolute b*******’.

The pair sat down for a recent chat on another podcast, Football’s Greatest With Jeff Stelling, where Le Tissier insisted he had ‘no regrets’ about his social media behaviour and that he would ‘do exactly the same thing again’, despite claiming it cost him his Soccer Saturday job in 2020.