FA fuming over Ferdinand's missing records Daniel Taylor Monday October 20, 2003 The Guardian
Manchester United found themselves fighting rearguard actions on two fronts over the weekend, neither of them on the pitch. First United's lawyers blocked News International from serialising a warts-and-all book written by the club's former security chief Ned Kelly, a dispute that will go to the high court this week. The club, however, was unable to prevent details of Rio Ferdinand's mobile telephone bills from being published yesterday. "Rio: His Mobile Was On" said the News of the World, an allegation that will alert the Football Association which has still not received the phone records a week after requesting them and is rapidly losing patience with United's failure to do so. The FA is now considering charging Ferdinand with wilfully evading a drugs test with out waiting for the phone records to be produced. Considering that United are sponsored by Vodafone, the delay is baffling and their publication will make interesting reading for the FA's investigators, headed by its compliance officer Steve Barrow. United are likely to launch an investigation into how the phone bill came to be leaked before it reached the FA. The records appear to show that two hours passed between Ferdinand leaving training and getting in touch with either the club's doctor Mike Stone or the drug-testers. But they also show Ferdinand interrupted his shopping to ring Stone once and the FA twice, three calls that seem to corroborate the evidence he supplied to his initial disciplinary hearing a week ago. Where it might harm his case is if Ferdinand, as has been widely reported, claimed his mobile was switched off. United had certainly not disputed that story but now there is a subtle but crucial difference in their version of events. The club's line is that Ferdinand's phone was not off but switched to the "silent" setting. The FA had asked Ferdinand to supply copies of his mobile phone records to help establish whether his failure to provide a sample was accidental or the more serious offence of wilfully missing a test. Stone is said to have told Ferdinand about the test on September 23 as soon as he finished training, and then asked another player to remind him. United fear that Ferdinand faces a ban over either charge, with the FA apparently determined to make an example of him. United would then consider either appealing to the FA or taking the matter to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne. A civil action could also be a possibility. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/tsUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************** Reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
