Strange one this, given Ferdinand's reference to England a few days ago but anyway:
SAF:
"Right from the word go, Rio was bound to get charged, simply because the Football Association left him out of the England team against Turkey.
"hat condemned him, I think, right away. He has had to carry a burden from the very minute they banned him from playing for England, and it will always be with him. He is the player who was not allowed to play for his country because of a drug situation. Whether he ever plays for his country again, or whether he wants to play for them (the FA), is another matter.
"This may not end with the FA. Rio has the right to go to court to protect his reputation.
"We would certainly support him if he decided that's what he wanted to do.
"I don't know if he has taken advice on that from his legal team, but I am just saying what I think he should do."
About Seb Coe's involvement in the review (see below):
"I don’t know enough about Seb Coe to say whether he is the right man. Has he got any real experience of it? We know he’s a former athlete."
From The Sunday Times:
Sebastian Coe, the Olympic gold medallist charged with reviewing the FA’s drug testing system in the wake of the case, said Ferdinand had only himself to blame. "If you fail to turn up, or wilfully refuse a drug test, that is a doping offence, and it is likely you are going to be made an example of. It would happen in track and field. It is only a third of the sentence an athlete would have got in similar circumstances," he said.
"It’s the punishment that is proportionate and it’s certainly the punishment that will not leave people thinking the FA have gone soft on drugs."
Ferguson, meanwhile, questioned Coe’s involvement with the FA review. "I don’t know enough about Seb Coe to say whether he is the right man. Has he got any real experience of it? We know he’s a former athlete." He said he would welcome drug procedures becoming stricter in football, but called for greater consistency in the way tests are administered. Ferdinand left United’s training ground with officials from UK Sport waiting to take his sample. He had been allowed to go to the dressing room after training and to leave it without being tested.
"At Wrexham," said Ferguson, "my son Darren (a player) was met by an official on the touchline and he didn’t let him go until he had passed water. They sign a form and it is done. It is inconsistent at the moment. The girl that was there (Michele Verroken, head of testing at UK Sport, who was placed on gardening leave last week) has already gone. But I don’t think drugs are anywhere near the problem in football as you see in individual sports like cycling or athletics."