Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand recently received a three match ban from the English FA for his comments on the social networking site.
Ferdinand, who is one of the active footballers on Twitter, recently got involved in a war of words with another user. The 35-year-old directed an obscene word at the user after he was subjected to intense criticism for his poor performances since joining QPR on a free transfer in the summer. Even though the comments were made outside football, the FA has decided to take action against the former England international.
QPR have been one of the poorest teams in the division and they could have done with the experience of the former England man for the upcoming games against Chelsea, even if for one of them he was able to go to a Wedding in Manchester instead!
However, manager Harry Redknapp will now have to do without the player over the next few weeks. This is not the first time Ferdinand has been punished by the FA for his comments on twitter. He made remarks about Ashley Cole a few years ago that appeared to be racist in nature. Redknapp, though, has praised Ferdinand by saying that he is one of the finest persons he knows. He says that the ban is unfair since it was an interaction between two individuals outside the game.
“If someone slags him off and he goes back and slags them off, it doesn’t equate. I can’t see it. We’ve not seen the FA report so we really can’t comment. We’re not sure exactly what he’s done and what the charge is and what the reasons are behind it. So until we see that, and I’ve not seen it, we’re not in a position to comment on it. I’ve not spoken to Phil [QPR’s chief executive Philip Beard], the chairman or Rio about it,” said Harry Redknapp.