Soccer: Ferdinand drugs ban could be put back to March

THE drawn-out Rio Ferdinand missed drugs test debacle is set to rumble on into a fifth month before it is eventually concluded.

Ferdinand was originally due to start his eight-month ban on January 12 but the England defender will now be free to play in Manchester United's Premiership encounter with Wolves at Molineux five days later, after it confirmed that clarification over the reasons behind his suspension will not be received until next week.

When the 25-year-old's advisors requested documentation on the case on December 23, four days after the guilty verdict was delivered by a three-man disciplinary panel, it was suggested it would be dispatched within a week.