D-day for Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand arrived early for the second day of his Football Association hearing at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium desperately hoping the verdict due to be delivered this afternoon will be favourable.

The 25-year-old Manchester United defender, facing a maximum two-year suspension over his failure to take a drugs test on September 23, slipped in quietly through the Bolton supporters’ shop, avoiding the photographers and reporters eager to catch his arrival.

A few minutes earlier, the leader of Ferdinand’s legal team, Ronald Thwaites had turned up, carrying a mass of paperwork which no doubt held the key to the player’s chances of avoiding suspension.

Although the FA have refused to offer any comment over yesterday’s seven-hour proceedings, it is believed Thwaites will not begin Ferdinand’s defence until this morning.

Among the witnesses expected to give verbal evidence are United boss Alex Ferguson and Manchester City midfielder Eyal Berkovic, who was with Ferdinand in central Manchester when his former West Ham team-mate was notified of his failure to take the pre-arranged test.

Written submissions have also been received from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp and England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, who stands to lose one of his key men for Euro 2004 should any suspension extend beyond the anticipated three months.

The three-man FA commission, headed by Barry Bright, have already inspected United’s Carrington training complex where Ferdinand should have taken the test and were waiting to hear evidence from United doctor Mike Stone, who is believed to have informed the player of his need to take the test.

Stone was one of the first to arrive at the hearing this morning and what he has to say could well determine Ferdinand’s fate.

It is still anticipated the case will be concluded this evening, although it is not yet certain when the final sentence will be delivered.

Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive Gordon Taylor was among the other early arrivals, although he was acting purely as an observer for the most high-profile hearing the FA have had to deal with since Eric Cantona launched himself into the crowd at Selhurst Park eight years ago.

That move landed the controversial Frenchman with a nine-month ban and some observers claim a similar sentence should apply this time.

However, the FA have already admitted there is no automatic penalty written into their statutes and having taken three months to get the hearing set up in the first place, face certain criticism no matter which way the decision goes.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has already indicated his intention to intervene should the punishment not be severe enough, although United officials remain adamant their £29.3m (€41.7m) record signing is guilty of nothing more than absent-mindedness and should receive no more than a fine.

Ferdinand’s supporters have been quick to point to the case of Manchester City’s Christian Negouai, who received a small fine for committing a similar offence earlier in the year and believe that punishment has set a precedent for future cases.