FA to investigate whether Rio Ferdinand’s ‘choc-ice’ tweet has inflamed controversy over John Terry case
The Football Association will launch an internal investigation today to decide whether Rio Ferdinand will face disciplinary action for reigniting the controversy created by John Terry’s court case on Twitter.
Ferdinand, the Manchester United defender, has been criticised for responding to a tweet which referred to Ashley Cole as a “choc ice”, and moved to defuse the row yesterday by denying he was being racist.
The 33 year-old came under scrutiny after appearing to endorse the remark about Cole, who appeared in court last week as a witness for the defence before Terry was subsequently found not guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother Anton.
Terry was cleared by District Judge Howard Riddle on Friday but the FA have revealed they are to reopen their own enquiry into the row, and are also set to make a decision in the next 48 hours over whether Ferdinand will receive any punishment.
Ferdinand, who was flying out to Durban today with the United squad for their pre-season tour, defended himself against allegations of racism by tweeting: “What I said yesterday is not a racist term. It’s a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there.”
The term ‘choc ice’ is widely understood to mean black on the outside, white on the inside and although Ferdinand has protested his innocence, this latest episode has only added to the fallout from Terry’s court case, already a hugely sensitive issue for the governing body.