Rio Ferdinand, the former Manchester United defender, has responded to accusations of bias towards West Ham United during a broadcast for TNT Sports. In the Premier League clash on Sunday, Sheffield United secured a late draw against the Hammers with a penalty from Ollie McBurnie.
The late drama included an incident between Sheffield United defender Anel Ahmedhodzic and West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen. Ahmedhodzic and Bowen clashed in the box, and the visiting winger ended up on the floor as a result of the altercation.
Referee Michael Salisbury's decision to let the game continue became a major talking point, with Ferdinand firmly believing that a penalty should have been given.
Following the game, Ahmedhodzic shared his perspective on the incident on his X account, accusing the TNT punditry team of clear bias and suggesting that replays of the alleged foul had been edited.
"Did you see the Sheffield United player come out today?," Ferdinand said on FIVE.
"Me and Joe Cole done the game for TNT, it was a penalty, I thought it was penalty and he's going 'oh he's biased towards West Ham'. What are you talking about?"
"If I started to dissect your defending before anything, you'd be on the floor. I think it's handball. It's a foul."
"But if I started to go through the steps of his poor defending in that moment, you should just be quiet. He should say 'you know what, actually, the situation isn't clear cut either way but his opinion is that'. It's not bias is it? But these man can't take it sometimes."
Ferdinand also stated that pundits giving their opinions is simply part of the game.
He added: "When it comes to performance and you're critiquing performance - it's fair game, part of the game is critiquing performance, it's normal.
"That's why I embraced social media early because I didn't like that every single time they done a caricature of me, they done some mad s***, with bling this and bling that."
"I like nice things but I that isn't representing me properly. With social media, I could go back at people and put my best foot forward - if something wasn't right I could address it. Social media is good for certain things if you use it right."
