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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Daniel Orme

BBC respond to reports Rio Ferdinand was dropped from World Cup coverage

Rio Ferdinand World Cup Manchester United Qatar Gary Lineker England France

The BBC has been forced to deny “categorically untrue” claims that Rio Ferdinand was dropped from the channel’s coverage of the World Cup in Qatar.

The former Manchester United and England defender has been a regular feature on a panel of experts throughout the tournament alongside the likes of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and more. However, recent reports from Mail Online have claimed that the channel were forced to drop the 44-year-old for the opening match of the tournament between Qatar and Ecuador.

It was claimed that due to Ferdinand’s close association with Saudi Arabia, the channel was worried about being accused of hypocrisy. Their coverage of the tournament opened up with Lineker and a video montage condemning the human rights issues and concerns in Qatar in favour of the opening ceremony.

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