Rio Ferdinand seeks clarification from Jamie Carragher after 'clown' comment

Rio Ferdinand has asked ex-England teammate Jamie Carragher for an explanation as to why he called him a clown when working for CBS Sport over an incident in Inter Milan's 2-0 victory over rivals AC Milan in the Champions League.

The former Liverpool defender was working on the game as a pundit for CBS while Ferdinand was working for BT Sport. The latter believed a penalty awarded to Inter for a foul on Lautaro Martinez was 'stonewall' before it was eventually overturned following a consultation with the VAR monitor.

Carragher felt differently and CBS captured the 45-year-old saying off air: "I think anyone out there who is watching the replay and seeing what VAR do and still believe that is a penalty, they must be a clown."

Steven Gerrard, Carragher's former Liverpool and England teammate, was working alongside Ferdinand on BT Sport and agreed with the ex-Manchester United defender. When shown a clip of the discussion, the CBS pundit said live on air: "'He was an attacking player, wasn't he? He was liable a little bit himself under a little bit of contact - always contact, never a dive. I understand where he is coming from.

"It's just when players in my position who are defenders, English defenders who are commentating on the game...' before Micah Richards interjected, only for Thierry Henry to stop him and ask what he was about to say.

Carragher continued: "I can understand attackers thinking it was a penalty (whilst turning to Henry) if you did, and Stevie was an attacker. Maybe he felt there was a little bit of contact.

"But as a defender we have to stick together don't we and I just felt people were getting a little bit carried away."

Richards then said: "Name names" to which Carragher answered: "Rio Ferdinand. I'm happy to call him a clown!"

Since, Ferdinand has taken to Twitter to say: "Let's discuss the clown comment...why you coming with hostility???"

Can’t believe Arsenal fans would rather take 2nd over winning a trophy 👀😂

Ps @Carra23 let’s discuss the 🤡 comment… why you coming with hostility???https://t.co/VYmxryl9Uf pic.twitter.com/hbXXoF3IoF

— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) May 15, 2023

On his online football show 'Rio Ferdinand presents FIVE', the former centre-back shared his confusion with the incident, saying: "Every time I see him it's all love man. I don't understand why he came with the hostility. We see each other, it's all cool. He used to carry my boots when we were with England and stuff like that. Always showed me love."

The 44-year-old then directed a message towards Carragher, saying: "I'm cool yeah but when you see me I just need to check that energy again."

Carragher has since responded with a meme of controversial pundit Richard Keys saying: "It was just banter."