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Rio Ferdinand swiped souvenir belonging to Vladimir Putin when he visited Kremlin

Alex Scott has revealed that former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand pinched one of Vladimir Putin's spoons during a visit to the Kremlin during the 2018 World Cup

Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin had a spoon stolen by Rio Ferdinand(Image: Mikhail Klimentyev/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

Cheeky telly pundit Rio Ferdinand secretly swiped a spoon belonging to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.


The Manchester United legend pinched Mad Vlad’s cutlery as a souvenir on a visit to the Kremlin during the 2018 World Cup. Rio’s light-fingered lark has been revealed by his pal Alex Scott, who was on the BBC commentary team with him at the tournament.


Alex, 38, said: “As part of the FIFA Legends programme, Rio Ferdinand and I had been invited to the Kremlin to discuss the World Cup.


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“Rio made me laugh on the way out – he opened his hand to reveal he’d nicked a teaspoon as a memento.”

Alex admitted in her new book How (Not) To Be Strong that she didn’t feel welcome at the Kremlin because she was female.

Where do you rank Rio Ferdinand and Alex Scott among football's top TV pundits? Let us know in the comments section.

Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand completed the heist during the 2018 World Cup(Image: PA Archive)

She explained: “I was the only woman in the room – which, behind the scenes, I think had caused some anger because of the politics involved in sitting with certain world leaders.


“But I was there to discuss football. I even learned a sentence in Russian, which I attempted and failed, but God loves a trier!

“The whole morning was utterly surreal. We snapped pictures with Putin, but I was scared to even eat the tea and cake in front of me in case I unwittingly broke some unspoken diplomatic convention.”

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