FA pardon Cole for Twitter rant

Ashley Cole will be available to play for England against San Marino on Friday after apologising for criticising the FA on Twitter.

The Chelsea left-back launched a scathing attack via the micro-blogging site last week after the evidence he supplied in John Terry’s racism case was called into question by the governing body.

The rant resulted in the FA charging Cole for misconduct on Monday.

Cole, who later deleted the tweet and apologised in an official statement, has been included in England’s squad to face San Marino and Poland in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

FA chairman David Bernstein, talking on BBC Radio 5 Live, confirmed that Cole had personally apologised to him on Monday and is now available for England duties.

Bernstein said: “He (Cole) apologised immediately on Friday and he came to see me last night and apologised to me personally.”

“He showed real contrition. He said he was really sorry.

“He is free to play for England over the coming matches. It is up to the manager to decide whether he plays or not.”