The football fan who hurled vile racist gestures at Rio Ferdinand during Man United match

A football fan who hurled racist remarks and made monkey gestures at Rio Ferdinand during a Manchester United game has been jailed and banned from watching live matches for seven years.

Jamie Arnold, of Stone, Staffordshire, racially abused the former England defender, who was working as a pundit for BT Sport during the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United on May 23, 2021.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Arnold, 33, appeared in the dock wearing a navy checked suit and red tie and looked straight ahead as Judge Rhona Campbell sentenced him to six months in prison for his “deliberately targeted and deeply distressing” actions.

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She branded him a “parasite to proper Wolverhampton fans” on a day that should have been “joyful” as home fans were allowed back into Premiership football for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement read out in court, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said he had been left “extremely distressed, distraught and devastated” by the incident and while he had “learned to deal with racist comments” during his time as a footballer, he had never experienced racist gestures or comments while working as a pundit.

He said: “Still to this day I do not know why I was abused… this abuse was unprovoked and completely unacceptable.

“I accept as an ex-professional football player there will be supporters who will voice opinions about me or whilst I am working on TV, what I don’t accept is that the opinions or gestures made about me or towards me should be abusive and