Rio Ferdinand Calls for Manchester City Titles to Be Stripped, Joking Joleon Lescott Should Return Medal

Rio Ferdinand has humorously suggested that former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott should hand over his 2011-12 Premier League winner's medal, as Ferdinand reiterated his call for the club to be stripped of its titles after a guilty verdict on numerous financial charges.

Manchester City and their supporters are awaiting potential sanctions after the Premier League found the club guilty of the majority of 115 charges related to financial irregularities. Possible punishments range from financial penalties and point deductions to the forfeiture of titles.

One of the titles in question is City's first Premier League crown, secured in dramatic fashion in the 2011-12 season with Sergio Aguero's last-minute goal against QPR. Manchester United, with Ferdinand as a player, finished second that season. Ferdinand has repeatedly advocated for this title to be rescinded.

"Next time Joleon's on, he better bring my b****y medal," Ferdinand stated on his podcast, 'Rio Ferdinand Presents.' "If you're found guilty, then I think you should have to give the medals back."

Ferdinand expressed his intention to personally retrieve the medal, saying, "When I see Joleon, I'm actually going to go to his house and just say, 'Listen, hand it over. Hand it over'. You can't really sit there and say that you were champions, can you? Or you won that or you won that."

He further elaborated on the potential consequences, suggesting, "Well, they're not going to have to pay any fines. They're not going to get relegated. Just hand over the trophy. Hand over the medals, hand over the trophy. Simple as."

Ferdinand was among the first former United players to publicly call for City to be stripped of the title. He posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, "Another Premier League medal to be added to the cabinet."

"They've been the best team in the country by a country mile, right?" Ferdinand questioned. "And they've had the best manager here. But again, if found guilty, there need to be relevant punishments and that's what has to be put in place."

He acknowledged the difficulty of the situation, stating, "So, we have to just sit and wait. Again, the killer for this is that it's took this long. That's that. But back to your point about can we still admire some of the football and and some of the moments that they had? Of course you can. You can still admire. And again, I'll reiterate the players aren't to blame in this."

Ferdinand emphasized that blame should not fall on the players, stating, "There's people that are in much more powerful positions and authority positions within the football clubs that make all these decisions. So, I wouldn't place any of the blame on any of the players shoulders, but they're going to be looked at differently and it's inevitable because that's just the way it is."

Ferdinand left Manchester United at the end of the 2013-14 season. City also won the Premier League title in the 2017-18 season, a period which also falls under scrutiny for alleged financial breaches. If City were to be stripped of titles won during the period of alleged financial breaches, Manchester United would be reinstated as champions for the 2011-12 and 2017-18 seasons, and Liverpool would be awarded the 2013-14 title.