Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has denied his
Football Association charge of improper conduct relating to comments he posted
on Twitter.
The centre-back, who has requested a personal hearing,
was on Monday hit with the charge after seemingly endorsing the term 'choc-ice'
in the aftermath of the John Terry racism trial.
Following the trial, when Terry was acquitted of racially
abusing Ferdinand's brother, Anton, the United defender responded to a Tweet
that characterised Chelsea defender Ashley Cole, who was a defence witness in
the trial, as a 'choc-ice'.
The term is commonly understood to mean 'black on the
outside, white on the inside', and was a reference to Cole's testimony in
court, in which he said he never heard Terry make a racist remark to Ferdinand
during the match in question at Loftus Road in October.
Terry is facing his own charge from the FA for the
incident, which he denies, while English football's governing body also decided
to charge Ferdinand for his Tweet, which he has similarly refuted.
An FA statement read: "Manchester United's Rio
Ferdinand has today [Thursday 2nd August] denied an FA charge of improper
conduct in relation to comments posted on Twitter.
"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.
"The player has requested a personal hearing. (http://www1.skysports.com)
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