Sol blasts Rio snub

Former England defender Sol Campbell believes Rio Ferdinand should have had the chance to turn England down and says he never bought the argument that the Manchester United player was left out of the original squad for footballing reasons.

Campbell said “What we can say for sure is that this entire situation goes back to what did or did not happen between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand last season. That is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn and I for one never bought the argument that Rio had been left out of the original squad for ‘footballing reasons’.”

The ex-Arsenal player admitted manager Roy Hodgson, was put in “a difficult situation” but said: “We don’t know what pressures he may have been under, but his reasons for picking who he did simply made no sense.”