Fabregas admits throwing the pizza at Ferguson and apologises ahead of Man Utd reunion

Cesc Fabregas has admitted he was responsible for throwing the pizza that hit Sir Alex Ferguson during the notorious ‘Pizzagate’ incident in October 2004, and has since apologised to the former Manchester United manager in person. The revelation adds a layer of intrigue to Wednesday’s Champions League fixture between United and Fabregas’s Como.

The incident occurred in the tunnel at Old Trafford following United’s victory over Arsenal, a result that ended the Gunners’ run of 49 unbeaten league games. Tempers boiled over post-match, and Ferguson was struck by a slice of pizza. For more than a decade, the identity of the thrower remained one of the Premier League’s most debated mysteries.

Ferguson himself had pointed the finger at Fabregas, and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown added fuel to the fire by referring to “a Spanish fella with great technique” — without naming names. Fabregas was still a teenager at the time and stayed silent for years.

It was not until a 2018 television appearance that Fabregas finally came clean. “All of a sudden, I heard noises, and I thought, ‘What’s happening?’ So I go out with my slice of pizza and I saw Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown… everyone pushing each other,” he explained. “I was like, ‘I want to get in, but I don’t know how to’, and I threw, just threw it. Once I saw it was hitting, like, who it was hitting, which I didn’t mean…”

Fabregas later told beIN Sports that he had already made his peace with Ferguson before the admission became public. He also acknowledged that his reaction would be different today. “I was young, I definitely wouldn’t use a pizza now, I would get straight in there now!” he said.

In a 2022 interview with ITV, Fabregas revisited the episode once more as he was winding down his playing career with Monaco. He would go on to play one final season with Como in 2022/23 before transitioning into management at the Italian club.

Now in the Champions League dugout for the first time as a head coach, Fabregas faces a United side at a very different stage from the Ferguson era. The reunion, however, carries the unmistakable weight of history.