Neville launches FA attack

Wednesday, 15 October 2003 12:00 AM

Gary Neville has launched a scathing attack on the Football Association over their handling of the Rio Ferdinand affair.

Neville's Manchester United teammate was left out of the England squad to face Turkey after missing a mandatory drug test and is waiting to find out whether he will face a misconduct charge.

But Neville said in The Times: "There is no doubt in my mind that Rio was prejudged by the FA.

"He deserved a hearing before people started passing sentence. Rio was punished before he had the chance to explain himself. How is that not a prejudgement?"

The FA have insisted that it was not them that broke Ferdinand's confidentiality, but Neville says the England squad felt let down that their team-mate was named publicly.

"On the issue of confidentiality, the players felt extremely strongly," added Neville.

"The FA denied leaking Rio's name, but did they really believe that it would remain a secret when the press knew that the squad announcement had been delayed by 48 hours because of something serious?"

As a Manchester United player and Professional Footballers' Association representative it was widely accepted that Neville was one of the ring leaders behind the threatened match boycott last week. He defended the England players' position in his Times column.

"Ask me what qualities distinguish the English and I would say honesty, fairness, hard work and loyalty," Neville continued.

"I believe that the England team and the immediate staff lived up to those ideals from the moment we met up last Tuesday right up to the final whistle on Saturday night.

"The United players in the England squad knew we had to do something and we were pleased that, when we turned up at the team hotel, we were not the only ones who felt strongly.

"Last week we did what we believed was right for a team-mate who had been badly let down.

"None of us condones drugs, none of us believes that drugs tests should be taken lightly, but we also believe that Rio deserved our loyalty when he was hung out to dry."

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