Rio could be banned for 2 years...

[Football Genius aka FG]

i didnt say Rio is a druggy i said any druggy is a loser, Rio is also a loser coz if he failed to supply the necessary for the drug test then he is assumed guilty see my example re a drink driver, its obvious he should be punished as if he was found guilty with illegal substance. RIO IS A CHEAT and the footballing authorities should be applauded for not withstanding cheats and this sets an exanple to other footballers that the tests are paramount and MUST be undertaken no excuses.

 

[Soton Seagull]

If Rio genuinley made a mistake and suffers for it then that is a shame, but in the real world people who cock up at work are sacked or disciplined all the time. Life's harsh like that, but shit happens.

 

[SiNZ]

cheats are scum Rio is a cheat to say he hasnt failled a test is like saying a drunk driver didnt take a breath test or provide a urine sample etc he did 3 days later so that must be ok

It was 36 hours later not 3 days. Quite why the FA took 36 hours to arrange a new time is beyond me.

However, there is an important distinction between your drunk driver analogy and Ferdinand's situation. The only way a drunk driver can not take a breath test is by deliberately refusing. A deliberate refusal can indeed be interpreted as guilt.

However, the FA procedures around player testing are obviously crap enough for someone to forget. In this case, an admission of guilt cannot be interpreted.

The FA need to fix the procedure so that it is not possible to forget.

 

[Yorkie]

The England squad are voting to strike unless Rio is reinstated to the team.

There may not be a game on Saturday.

(This is on the BBC as I type)

 

[REDLAND]

The England squad are voting to strike unless Rio is reinstated to the team.

There may not be a game on Saturday.

(This is on the BBC as I type)

Good on them, The FA have made such a f**k up over this its un believeable, not the best preperation for the most important game in 2 years though !!

It was mentioned on Sky last night that the Man Utd players were thinking of doing this but the whole squad, good on them, nice to see a bit of solidarity

 

[beorhthelm]

no, the FA havnt got his fcuked up. The rules are the rules, you turn up for a test. I think Rio has been a right plonker, as i dont believe he has done any dodgy substances - anything that can be detected on tuesday will be detected thusday. Its an honest mistake, but how can someone be so stupid as to fail to turn up to a drug test when failure to do so can ruin your career?

An that PFA lot can fcuk right off getting on their high horse. from the comments ive heard Gordon Taylor might as well just say that the laws and rules of the game shouldnt apply to thier precious little members, and if they feel like going shopping instead of taking a scheduled drugs test than the shooping takes precedence.

at the end of the day, would those who think the FA is wrong still think so if UEFA came along and said that will fielded an ineligable player and so forfit

 

[SiNZ]

All Taylor has said is that players should not be named until found guilty or after a hearing as there is a precedent for this being the procedure.

Agreed that Ferdinand hasn't exactly shown himself to be a particularly bright chap, but the FA testing procedures need serious revision. Otherwise there will come a time when someone who has taken drugs will exploit the opportunity to avoid testing, which is not what I personally believe has occured here.

 

[FamilyGuy]

"Rio could be banned for two years"

I don't care, serves him right.

In missing the compulsory test and still expecting to be picked to play for England he risked the entire game being forfeited.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Could be a case for merging threads me thinks.

Ban the fool.

 

[SiNZ]

"Rio could be banned for two years"

I don't care, serves him right.

In missing the compulsory test and still expecting to be picked to play for England he risked the entire game being forfeited.

Indeed, the only problem is that Davids got a positive test and was only banned for 1 year. Stam only got 4 months.

Seems to me that there needs to be an international standard or body and not individual FAs applying their own rules - or cocking it up as in our FA!

 

[DTES]

Quite why the FA took 36 hours to arrange a new time is beyond me.

They didn't. Rio was "unavailable" until that time. Due to moving house or something. I'm not saying I believe he's guilty, but it's a little suspicious.

 

[dwayne]

has anyone actually "done the science" on this.

I cannot imagine 48 hours is gonna make any difference to the overall result and are the tests conducted taking urine or blood?

 

[DTES]

48 hours after taking them, no you're probably right dwayne. But maybe he'd taken them a few days before the date he was asked on. There has to be a cut-off point between them being detectable and not, and maybe that point was during the 36 hours...

 

[dwayne]

Certainly if they took blood I could not see them clearing his system in time, unless he had elaborately timed and planned by the day when he had taken these drugs.

 

[DTES]

I don't think it would take "elaborate planning". Just a case of

"Rio, you've got to do a drugs test"

"Oh shit, I'll probably fail unless I hold off a day or two..."

 

[dwayne]

well like I say, it depends whether it is a urine or blood sample. It is difficult to talk about specific drugs but u can flush most steroids out of your system with diuretics within a couple of days (urine) but they are traceable in blood stream for weeks....which leads me to think it may be drugs of the recreational kind

 

[dwayne]

I don't think it would take "elaborate planning". Just a case of

"Rio, you've got to do a drugs test"

"Oh shit, I'll probably fail unless I hold off a day or two..."

and don't u mean...

"Rio, you've got to do a drugs test"

Doctor: "Oh shit, You'll probably fail unless you hold off a day or two..

 

[Pavilionaire]

First and foremost, Rio f***ed up. 3 of his teammates remembered, he didn't.

Secondly, how was he allowed to leave Man Utd's training ground without giving a sample? Did the Sport UK testers have their thumbs up their arses?

Thirdly, having identified that Ferdinand had breached the rules the FA should have taken action a lot quicker than they did, though they should have sounded out the PFA and Man Utd rather than just springing this on them.

This incident has severely dented our chances of getting a result in Turkey. Coked or not, Ferdinand is a far superior player to Terry and all of the other squad centre backs.

But something needs to be done about the behaviour of players. Too many stories are making the headlines, it's almost as if you have to be a complete twat to get a game for England these days.

 

[Seagull Stew]

If I was stopped in my car by police and asked to take a breath test and then drove off only to turn up at a police station two days later and then offer myself up for a breath test I wouldn't expect to get away with it. So why should Rio?
You either go by the rules or there's no point in having random dope tests at all. You might as well just allow footballers to volunteer themselves for tests whenever they feel like it.

 

[Row Z Creased Shirt]

I cannot understand how Rio was allowed to miss the test, wasn't anyone checking?

I am hacked off that Rio is missing on saturday, but rules is rules I suppose. But I find it perfectly believable that he is dim enough to speed out of the training ground move house and do a bit of shopping.

However what I find difficult to believe is that we have a drug testing procedure that does not ensure that players turn up to take the test in the first place! As Pavilionaire rightly points out what were the testers and United playing at.

This seems to be a totally preventable shambles to me, and has totally messed up the preparations for the Turkey game, heads other than Rio's should roll for this too.