Rio Ferdinand hits back at Anel Ahmedhodzic after being accused of 'bias' on TNT Sports

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has responded after being accused of being 'biased' towards West Ham United on broadcast for TNT Sports.

Sheffield United rescued a late draw at home to the Hammers in Sunday's Premier League clash thanks to a late penalty from Ollie McBurnie.

There was a chance for more drama at the death following an incident between Sheffield United defender Anel Ahmedhodzic and West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen, with Bowen fuming he was not awarded a penalty.

Referee Michael Salisbury's decision to allow the game to continue was a huge talking point in the studio and Ferdinand was convinced a penalty should have been given.

On Sunday night, Ahmedhodzic discussed the incident on his X account, accusing the TNT punditry team of being "clearly biased" and also suggested replays of the suspected foul had been "edited".

His post on X, formerly Twitter, read in full read: "Clearly biased. You can see at the unedited footage where he pulls me down with him which makes me lose sight of the ball. Obviously it’s been edited to make it look like a pen to West Ham."

Ferdinand hit back at the suggestion he was biased towards his former club West Ham on his latest podcast.

"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 in 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."

"I don't know how they haven't looked at that & gone 'that's a stonewall penalty' for me" 👀 @rioferdy5 & Joe Cole believe Jarrod Bowen was denied an "absolute" penalty as he was brought down in box during the final moments of the game...

🎙️ @laura_woodsy pic.twitter.com/kmvQlP0cb3

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2024

Ferdinand also claimed that pundits analysing performances and giving opinion 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."