Rio ban 'ridiculous' - Giggs

Ryan Giggs has described the eight-month ban handed to Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand for missing a drugs test as “ridiculous”.

The England defender’s 14 days to appeal against the ban began yesterday after United received written clarification of the reasons for the verdict reached by the three-man disciplinary panel at his hearing on December 18 and 19.

Giggs admitted everyone at the club had been stunned by the severity of the ban and told the Daily Express: “We are all gutted for him.

“I’d prefer to wait and see how his appeal goes before saying too much, but I do hope that they are sensible when they review his ban because to me, eight months seems ridiculous.

“The boys were stunned when we discovered how long the ban was for, because not one of us expected it.

“Obviously we showed Rio that we felt for him at the time, but in football you have to get on with things, and that is what has happened at Manchester United in recent weeks.

“Rio has still been playing in the big games and his form has been tremendous, so it has been business as usual.

“He has done brilliantly to play on with all this hanging over his head. He’s handling it very well.”

Ferdinand was banned after failing to attend a drugs test at United’s Carrington training ground on September 23.