[packt up]

Originally Posted by Purpleduck Put yourself in the shoes of a United fan and honestly ask yourself if one of your players had been banned 8 months for such an offence whether you'd be fine with it. Bosnich played for Chelsea when he commited the offence and got fired because of it.

Course I wouldn't be fine with it. I'd wonder why my club could let a player who needed a drug test to just walk away from the training ground.

Ferdinand deserved a punishment. He deserved to be fined and he deserved to be banned. The fact is the FA set a precident when they fined the young City player 2k. It's a massive leap and nobody could tell me that if this had happened with a Division 1 player, that the punishment would be the same, the time taken to sentence the player would be 3 months or that the player's name would of even be revealed.

The leap is infortunate and I would put it down to the change at the top of the FA. It maybe unfortuntate that Ferdinand came along but it was necessary as drug abuse cannot be tolerated and so punishments should be set to reflect that. As opposed to Ferdinand's being to strict I think it should be seen that Negouai's was way to lax. I don't know whether the punishment would have been the same if it had been a lower profile club, but things have happened as they happened. Once his name broke Rio was always going to be in the shit - but the bottom line is it's his and Man U's fault in the first place.

The FA have got their heads up their own arses and playing to Blatter's tune. Ferdinand missing Euro 2004 might just be because the FA didn't want Ferdinand to be representing England in front of Blatter and the entire world. Whatever the case, Rio's punishment is too severe.

Again I would say its unfortunate and probably is harsh but Rio is being made an example of. One thing is for sure drug abusers will think twice now so I guess that is good. Rio and Man U ASWELL as the FA should all take looks at themselves. The root of this problem lies at Rio and Man U feet.