Emmanuel Petit makes on-air apology after wrongly claiming Arsenal legend was dead live on Sky Sports

Emmanuel Petit made an apology on Sky's live coverage of Monday Night Football after he mistakenly claimed that Arsenal legend Pat Rice had passed away.

The former France international, who made 118 appearances for Arsenal between 1997 and 2000, was this week's special guest on MNF as he joined Jamie Carragher and David Jones in the studio.

Petit touched on a number of subjects throughout Monday's show, including his best XI of former teammates, the reason why Arsenal will win the league this season and Tottenham's recent struggles.

But one of the most talked about moments was an unfortunate one.

As he opened up on some of his fondest memories from his time at Highbury, Petit made reference to Arsenal icon Pat Rice and said: “He had some fights with Pat Rice as well, rest in peace Pat.”

Moments later, Petit was informed that Rice, 75, was in fact alive and well. “I’ve got some good news, Pat Rice sends his best," said MNF host David Jones. "He’s not actually no longer with us. He’s alive and kicking.”

A relieved Petit then responded: “I’m sorry! Sorry Pat. I’m confused. I’m so sorry Pat. Pat, I made a mistake, sorry.”

Rice, who made 528 appearances for the Gunners across a 13-year spell, became a youth coach with Arsenal in 1984 following a brief stint at Watford.

He went on to enjoy a lengthy spell as assistant manager during Arsene Wenger's tenure, having previously been a caretaker manager in North London, and later joined the club's scouting team.

Back in 2013, Rice was presented with an MBE in recognition of his contribution to Arsenal and football in general.

A decade later, the 75-year-old was involved in tours of the Emirates Stadium, as well the re-designing process of banners, according to JustArsenal.

#Petit just said rest in peace to Pat Rice... have I missed something!? #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/tNo4n9qFzK

— Christopher Price (@ChrisPrice_86) January 20, 2025

As mentioned earlier, Petit said his former club could win their first league title for 21 years in the coming months.

Asked if he believed Arsenal could win this season’s Premier League, Petit responded: "Yes – and I’ll tell you why.

"Liverpool and other teams are dealing with so many competitions. Arsenal, they have so many injuries, but they are going to be back soon. They are top players as well, so they are going to be fresh.

"They are out, almost, of the two national cups, so they can concentrate on the Champions League and Premier League.

"Liverpool are not doing that well in the last few weeks. They are conceding goals all the time and they are not confident... Saka is coming back soon and the [January] market is not over yet as well."