Rio Ferdinand has addressed his Champions League future three days after Newcastle United qualified for next season’s competition.
The Magpies booked their place in the 2025/26 Champions League on Sunday, despite losing 1-0 to Everton.
Manchester United did Newcastle a favour, with their win over Aston Villa ensuring that Eddie Howe’s side finished fifth in the Premier League.
Newcastle United are returning to Europe’s elite competition, and will be eager to discover who they are going to face. They will have to wait a little while yet, with the Champions League draw scheduled for August.
Rio Ferdinand releases Champions League statement
In the meantime, Newcastle United fans in the United Kingdom now know that they will not be watching former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand during their 2025/26 Champions League campaign.
Ahead of this year’s final between Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale, the 46-year-old has announced that he will be stepping away from TNT Sports’ coverage following Saturday’s game.
In a statement shared on his official X account, Ferdinand wrote: “After 10 incredible years, I have made the difficult decision to step away from TNT Sports after the Champions League final. Since retiring from football, it has been a privilege talking about the game I love for a decade for sports fans watching on BT Sport and TNT Sports. I want to acknowledge the tremendous support from the team behind the scenes, whose hard work often goes unseen but has been essential to our success.
“To everyone at TNT Sports, we have a brilliant end to the season to look forward to on Saturday and for now all the focus will be on what I think could go down as one of the great European finals. The network continues to thrive with more rights than ever, and I look forward to following its progress and the exciting future that lies ahead.
“Lastly, I would like to thank my family and my management company New Era for their ongoing support. They have supported me to travel all over Europe, following the best players and watching the best matches – for a football fan like me, it’s been a dream come true.
“As I turn the page to the next chapter, I carry with me countless memories. I am excited about what the future holds, spending more time with my family, focusing on Rio Ferdinand Presents and my other business interests. I hope to stay connected with all of you in different capacities. Thank you once again for everything.”
What Ferdinand said about Newcastle United after their Champions League exit in 2023
While Newcastle United will be part of TNT Sports’ Champions League coverage next season, Rio Ferdinand will not.
The former England international will be watching from home, while Newcastle United will hope that this Champions League campaign goes better than their last.
Howe’s side finished bottom of their group last season, coming fourth below Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan. They exited the competition at the earliest opportunity, whilst also missing out on dropping into the Europa League.
On the night that Newcastle were eliminated, Ferdinand was at St James’ Park.
After the 2-1 defeat to AC Milan, Ferdinand said Newcastle’s players would be glad they missed out on the Europa League.
“Eddie Howe and the players can’t say this but I’m guaranteeing that they will be delighted not to go into the Europa League because the amount of injuries they have, Kieran Tripper just limped past us here,” he said.
“And a few are quite long-term. So it makes it difficult to battle on many fronts when your squad is so threadbare. They have to get these players back fit and more and more games would make that more and more unlikely for those players to come back fit.”
The Magpies will not drop into the Europa League next season either, but that is because of the new Champions League format that was introduced at the beginning of the current campaign.
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