Rio Ferdinand has accused Manchester United of ‘taking the piss’ with the way they announced their withdrawal from the European Super League and says fans deserve answers from Ed Woodward, who decided to step down as executive vice-chairman amid the fallout.
All of the Premier League’s so-called ‘big six’ clubs confirmed their intention to pull out of the breakaway competition on Tuesday night, just 48 hours after the controversial proposal was unveiled which shook football to its core.
Chelsea and Manchester City were the first of the dominoes to fall under intense pressure from the wider footballing community as fans, players, pundits, politicians and governing bodies joined in condemning the project which had promised immunity from relegation for founding members.
Following the ferocious backlash, Woodward – who had become a hugely divisive figure among United supporters after following the Glazers to Old Trafford back in 2005 – detailed his plans to resign in a brief statement.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
It is understood Woodward has told close friends that attempting to establish the league is one of the biggest mistakes he’s made in his professional career but club legend Ferdinand has little sympathy.
The ex-England defender took to Twitter to vent his anger on Wednesday morning and uploaded a short video demanding that those involved are held accountable for their actions.
‘I commend the Chelsea fans that went to Chelsea and were going bananas. I was thinking that I’d love to see more people doing that because these people need to understand,’ Ferdinand said.
‘But you can’t just come out and give us a little blanket cover-up story and not tell us why. Ed Woodward has resigned, I want to know why. Where are you, Ed? I know you personally, I want to know why. Were you part of this? They’re the questions.
‘I could sit here and hammer Ed Woodward, I could sit here and hammer the Glazers, I could sit here and hammer the owners of all these football clubs.
‘I don’t want to waste my time doing that now, I just want answers.
‘They should be put up on a pedestal like they wanted to be as the six clubs, the six great big clubs. They were on that pedestal, putting themselves up there.
‘Well come out now and answer some questions on them pedestals because that’s what the fans deserve.’
Over on his Instagram page, Ferdinand underlined that football ‘has and always will be about the fans’ before taking aim at the Red Devils for insulting supporters with last night’s announcement.
‘Taking the piss with this. Is that it…’ he posted along with a screenshot of United’s link to the statement on Twitter.
Gary Neville was in a celebratory mood as Woodward’s resignation was announced by United but insisted he was just ‘the trunk of the tree’ and the ‘roots’ should be removed next.
‘We obviously don’t know why the timing is now. The leeches could have thrown him under a bus, there’s no doubt about that,’ the ex-United and England right-back said on Sky Sports.
‘Or it could be that the sensible thing has happened, that Ed Woodward knew it was going to get too hot in the kitchen for him in the next few months and he needed to get out of there.
‘The fact of the matter is that, not just Woodward, but every single executive that sits at the Premier League table, every single executive that’s on these UEFA or FIFA committees, they need throwing out of that club because there’s no way they can be trusted.
‘Ed Woodward knew his time in football was finished, probably this morning, and he’s probably done that to keep away from the criticism that would’ve come his way in the next few months.
‘However, Ed Woodward is the trunk of the tree, we now need to go for the roots.
‘I said last night I felt complicit, they’ve declared their hand. While they were sat at the club never making a statement, never showing their hands, never doing media conferences, yes they were taking money out of the club, yes they’ve leveraged against the club, there’s nothing we can do about that once the club became a PLC.
‘I said last night they attacked every single football fan in this country with what they did.’
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
MORE : The Glazer family have ‘no place’ at Manchester United after European Super League scandal, warns Gary Neville
MORE : Harry Maguire and Amad Diallo react to Manchester United withdrawing from European Super League
