Rio Ferdinand has had his ban for violent conducted extended to four matches after the Football Association ruled that he made a frivolous appeal against the charge. The Manchester United defender was initially banned for three games.
Ferdinand will miss the Premier League match away to Arsenal on Sunday, as well as games against Portsmouth, Aston Villa and Everton next month. However, he will be available for the first leg of the Champions League tie against AC Milan in the San Siro on February 16 and the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley on February 28.
An FA statement said: "The Independent Commission felt that the player's claim against the charge was frivolous and on that basis have awarded an additional one match ban upon the statutory three match ban awarded for violent conduct."
It seemed United took a calculated risk when Ferdinand appealed against the charge yesterday, thus making himself available to play last night's Carling Cup semi-final, second leg victory over Manchester City.
However, in his programme notes, Sir Alex Ferguson said Ferdinand would not have been considered for Sunday as it would be unfair to ask him to play three games in a week so soon after his recovery from a back problem. The manager also said Ferdinand had a good case to appeal the charge, which related to an incident in the match against Hull City last weekend.
Ferdinand appeared to catch Craig Fagan in the face with his arm but his manager felt he was provoked. "If he gets a fair hearing Rio has a good chance," said Ferguson. "He was getting wrestled and punched. There were all sorts of things happening. He was trying to get himself free of it and unfortunately caught the lad on the back of the neck."
Source:The Times
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