Rio to fight FA tweet charge

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has denied a Football Association charge of improper conduct following comments he made on Twitter at the end of the John Terry trial.

In the aftermath of last month’s trial, when Terry was acquitted of racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother, Anton, the United defender responded to a tweet that characterised Chelsea defender Ashley Cole, who was a defence witness, as a “choc-ice”.

The term is commonly understood to mean “black on the outside, white on the inside”, and was a reference to Cole’s testimony in court, in which he said he never heard Terry make a racist remark to Ferdinand during the match in question at Loftus Road in October.