Rio Ferdinand to fly to Doha for Al Jazeera role

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will reportedly make a 15-hour round trip to Doha for a television broadcast of England's World Cup qualifier with San Marino.

The 34-year-old, who had to withdraw from Roy Hodgson's squad due to a back problem, will act as a pundit on Al Jazeera's Arabic broadcast of the game.

"We've been talking with Rio about coming out to Qatar for over two years and finally everything fitted into place," Al Jazeera sports chief Duncan Walkinshaw is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

"Big pundit names are very popular on the Arabic channels even if their comments have to be translated.

"It's up to United and Rio how he looks after his fitness, but the sports medicine facilities over here are second to none and United came here for hot weather training in January."

Ferdinand had been recalled to the Three Lions setup for the first time since 2011 but pulled out because of a "detailed pre-planned training and medical programme".