Rio Ferdinand hits back at criticism of Qatar trip

Rio Ferdinand has hit back at the critics who have blasted him for flying to Qatar after pulling out of the England squad.

The Manchester United star, who has long-standing back problems, ruled himself out of the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro after the Old Trafford club claimed his fitness and training regime would be compromised if he went away on international duty.

But it has now been revealed the 34-year-old will be part of Al Jazeera’s broadcast team for the game in San Marino, meaning a 15-hour round trip to Doha.

That decision has resulted in widespread condemnation, but Ferdinand insists he is doing nothing wrong.

He tweeted: “Flown out for some pre-planned downtime...with a bit of punditry thrown in for a game I would have watched anyway...

"No different from what I done on the last 10day international break...thank you guys.”