London, Nov 13: England defender Rio Ferdinand's future hung in the balance yesterday as the deadline neared for him to respond to charges of missing a doping test which could result in a two-year ban.
Ferdinand had been given two weeks to explain why he left his club Manchester United's training ground on September 23 when UK Sport's doping control officers were waiting for him to provide a urine sample.
The English Football Association (FA) is under pressure to announce a decision on any sanctions quickly following criticism from Fifa president Sepp Blatter and World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound over the length of time it has taken to deal with the case.
The FA have already suspended Ferdinand from international matches but he has been allowed to play on for Manchester United pending the outcome of his case.
The club are supporting Ferdinand's claim that he simply forgot about the test, partly because he was preoccupied with moving house on that day.



A number of holes have however appeared in his story and the player is widely expected to be banned for between three months and two years.



England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has offered to testify as a character witness for Ferdinand, will be keeping his fingers crossed that any ban does not affect the player's chances of being included in England's squad for the 2004 European Championship finals in Portugal in June and July.


Bureau Report