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Rio Ferdinand left ‘baffled’ by FA ban

QPR star suspended for three-matches after offensive tweet

Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand endorsed a tweet sent yesterday accusing the Football Association of applying double standards by giving him a three-match ban.

Ferdinand was also given a £25,000 fine on Tuesday after calling someone on Twitter a “sket” — taken to mean a promiscuous woman.

The FA felt the offensive tweet was abusive and a breach of conduct was aggravated by the fact it made a reference to gender.

User @flowingmindset sent a tweet yesterday afternoon accusing the FA of a “double standard” in regards to the length of punishment handed to the former England defender and the way it handled the sexist and racist text exchange between former Cardiff manager Malky Mackay and Iain Moody. 

Ferdinand replied to the tweet by saying “preach” before sending another saying he was “baffled” by his treatment.

Despite the Mackay and Moody exchange happening in August, the pair are yet to be punished and may get away with what was said due to conversation being in private.

QPR teammate Joey Barton backed Ferdinand on Twitter, using John Terry’s four-match ban for racial abuse as an example of the way the FA handles offences.

“Can someone from the FA send me a list of offensive, ban-incurring words that I can’t use online and the requisite bans attached to each,” he wrote.

“The punishment (in the Ferdinand case) isn’t fitting of the crime in my opinion.

“Three games is violent conduct. (John) Terry only got four games for racial abuse?

“Three games and £25,000 for a tweet? Come on.”

QPR manager Harry Redknapp, chief executive Philip Beard and chairman Tony Fernandes met Ferdinand and his representatives at the club’s Harlington training ground on Thursday to consider a potential appeal.

Redknapp leapt to Ferdinand’s defence, labelling the former England defender a “top-class person.”

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