Ferdinand was found to be in breach of FA Rule E3(1) failure to act in the best interests of the game and using insulting words or behaviour. The offence was aggravated by his breach of E3 (2) which includes references to a person's colour or race.
The offence arose the day after the conclusion of the John Terry criminal trial. Ashley Cole had appeared as a defence witness for Terry. Ferdinand clearly felt that Cole had assisted Terry who was acquitted.
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| End of Campaigning |
The following day an individual with the Twitter ID @CarltonEbanks tweeted:
"@rioferdy5 looks like Ashley Cole's going to be their choc ice. Then again he's always been a sell out. shame on him".
Unfortunately Ferdinand was unwise enough to endorse the sentiments
"@CarltonEbanks I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahaha!!"
This has cost Ferdinand £45,000 and damaged his reputation. Ferdinand had denied the charge and given an explanation which was rejected out of hand by the Commission.
Lord Herman Ouseley gave evidence by telephone that the term 'choc ice' was 'an offensive and insulting term ...used to question a person's identity, based on the notion that they have a dark outer skin but inside they act as a white person".
The penalty is doubled by the finding against him for the aggravated element, the starting point being based upon considerations of Ferdinand's net salary, but the amount was reduced by 25% to reflect quite compelling mitigation. This was Ferdinand's first offence. He has used a Twitter account for 2 years and sent almost 10,000 tweets without troubling the FA. He has used Twitter to publicise his charitable foundation and had previously been a 'Poster boy' for the FA. Ferdinand has a record of fronting anti racism campaigns.
The FA were not accusing Ferdinand of being a racist. He was being insulting by use of reference to race or colour. Nonetheless I dont think Rio will be fronting too many campaigns in the near future.
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| Rio is not appealing the decision |
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