Ferdinand charged over Twitter comments

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been charged with improper conduct by the FA in relation to comments posted on Twitter.

The charge is thought to relate to the aftermath of John Terry’s race trial (in which he was acquitted), when Ferdinand quoted a tweet calling Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole, who was a witness for the defence, a ‘choc-ice’.

The term was in reference to Cole’s testimony in court, when he said he did not hear Terry make a racist comment to Anton Ferdinand, brother of Rio, at the match last October at Loftus Road.

Ferdinand later defended his remark on Twitter, stating: “What I said yesterday is not a racist term. Its (sic) a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there.”

The FA said in a statement: “The allegation is that the player acted in a way which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute by making comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race.”

Ferdinand will have until August 2 (Thursday) to answer the charge.

Terry was also charged by the FA with improper conduct last week for the original comments made to Anton Ferdinand, which he immediately stated he would contest.