Former Arsenal player pulls out of TV punditry role for Champions League final | OneFootball

Samir Nasri has pulled out of working at the Champions League final as a TV pundit after PSG fans “insulted his mother” at a previous match in the competition.

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Nasri, who played for the Gunners between 2008 and 2011, was set to work pitchside for French channel Canal+ at the biggest match in club football on Saturday night in Budapest.

However, having received abuse from PSG fans during the team’s Champions League semi-final tie against Bayern Munich, the 38-year-old will be absent from the French broadcaster’s coverage this weekend. Nasri also played for Marseille, PSG’s fierce rivals, from 2004 to 2008.

“It's part of the game as a former Marseille player to get insulted by Parisian fans,” Nasri told L’Equipe. “Even if I think they had other things to do, like celebrating qualifying for the final.

“What bothered me was that they insulted my mother. That's not why I'm not going to Budapest for the final.”

Nasri also acknowledged that he doesn’t have an “extraordinary relationship” with Arsenal fans, given his acrimonious move to Manchester City in 2011.

“It's not the first time I've been insulted in a stadium, and it certainly won't be the last,” Nasri added. “And if I let it get to me, I'd stop doing TV and I'd stop going to matches.

“It's PSG vs Arsenal, it's better to have Robert Pires, who's a die-hard Gunners fan, and David Ginola, who's a die-hard PSG fan, than someone neutral like me on the panel.

Samir Nasri (right) won’t work for Canal+ this Saturday in Budapest (Getty)

“Arsenal is also my former club, but I don't have an extraordinary relationship with its supporters.”

Meanwhile, TNT Sports’ coverage of the Champions League final in the UK on Saturday has been placed in the spotlight again after their call not to make the match free-to-air for the first time ever.

The Football Supporters Association, alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer and supporters clubs from all nine English clubs involved in Europe this season, have released a statement urging TNT to make the match available for free.

Pundits such as Ally McCoist, Martin Keown and Steven Gerrard are set to work on Saturday’s match for TNT at the Puskas Arena.