Rio Ferdinand wasn’t on air during Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg away to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, having revealed that he was in hospital
Rio Ferdinand won’t be on punditry duty for TNT Sports when Manchester United face Athletic Bilbao for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final. Ferdinand, 46, revealed on Wednesday that he was in hospital and would therefore be absent for Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg away to Paris Saint-Germain.
The United legend shared a selfie from his hospital bed on X and gave a thumbs-up, adding: “Gutted to be missing the Semi-Finals this week on @footballontnt!! Wishing the team all the best – I’ll be watching every minute from the iPad!”
Now the reason for him being admitted to hospital has emerged. The Daily Mail report that Ferdinand has come down with a sickness bug.
Members of the 81-time England international’s family have also been affected by the illness. Ferdinand is continuing his recovery and will remain off air until he’s back to full health.
TNT have the rights to broadcast Sunday’s Premier League match between Newcastle and Chelsea at St James’ Park which could be an opportunity for Ferdinand to return. For now, he’ll have to continue watching on his iPad or television.
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The 46-year-old streamed Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat in Paris which saw the the Gunners dumped out. Ferdinand posted about one particular moment in the match, as PSG were awarded a controversial penalty after a handball by Myles Lewis-Skelly. “Horrendous decision,” he posted on X.
Arsenal were already 1-0 down on aggregate heading into their European second leg while United boast a 3-0 advantage from their comfortable victory in Spain last week. Ferdinand’s former side know that so long as they avoid a major collapse, their ticket to the Europa League final is assured.
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United boss Ruben Amorim wants to make sure that his players don’t cede control of the tie, writing in his programme notes: “Athletic Club are a very good team, and they caused us problems in the opening stages in San Mames, so we cannot just assume the game will go the same way it did last Thursday. We will need total focus and effort to keep control of the game, and the tie.
“It is a boost to be playing the second leg at home because we know what a special place Old Trafford can be on European nights, as we saw in the quarter-final against Lyon last month, when the fans helped us get over the line. The support we have received throughout such a difficult season has been incredible and we want to reward our fans by winning the UEFA Europa League.”
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