Rio Ferdinand (seen leaving a London hotel in Reuters picture after losing the appeal on Thursday) will miss Euro 2004

London: Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand is “absolutely devastated” at losing his appeal against an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.

The ban was upheld by a three-man panel after a brief appeal hearing on Thursday (as was published in Thursday’s Late City edition), meaning Ferdinand will be suspended till September 20, leaving him out of contention for the Euro 2004 finals which begin in Portugal on June 12.

“I’m absolutely devastated at this verdict,” Ferdinand toldThe Sun newspaper.

The 25-year-old will also miss the start of the 2004-05 English Premiership season. “The main thing keeping me going throughout this has been the possibility of playing again this season. This verdict has taken that hope away from me,” he said.

“I won’t feel happy until I am back in competitive football. At the end of the day I am a footballer and I want to play football for a living,” Ferdinand said, thanking Manchester United and his lawyers for their support.

“Now I have to sit down and come to terms with what has happened.”

The panel, chaired by independent lawyer Ian Mill and including Football Association (FA) chairman Geoff Thompson and FA councillor Roger Burden, rejected the defender’s appeal.

It also turned down an FA submission that Ferdinand’s ban be increased to 12 months, a punishment in line with world soccer governing body Fifa’s regulations.

The panel also said they did not believe that Ferdinand’s reason for missing the test was drugs-related, a point that was particularly important to the player who repeatedly stressed he had never taken drugs.

“The panel have said that I am not a drug-taker,” the player said.

Panel spokesman Nick Barron, reading a prepared statement, said Ferdinand’s appeal was against a decision in December that he had “failed or refused to submit to drug testing as required by a competent official,” contrary to the FA’s doping control regulations.

“He also appealed against the suspension of eight months with effect from January 20, 2004, which the commission imposed as a sanction for that offence.

“The FA responded to Ferdinand’s appeal with the contention that the period of suspension should be increased to a minimum of 12 months.

“Having considered the matter very fully, the appeal board has dismissed his appeal, both against conviction and against sanction. It has also rejected the FA’s contention that the period of suspension should be increased.

“In reaching its conclusions, the appeal board discounted the possibility that Mr Ferdinand’s reasons for not taking the test were drug-related,” the statement said. “Accordingly, Ferdinand remains on suspension until September 20, 2004.”

Ferdinand’s appeal had been scheduled for two days but the panel made its decision after sitting for four hours on Thursday before considering their verdict.

Before Ferdinand began his suspension on January 20, United had the best defensive record in the Premier League. In his absence, they have fallen 12 points behind Arsenal in the race for the Premiership title and have been eliminated from the Champions League.

Ferdinand began serving the ban on January 20 after failing to attend a drugs test at United’s training ground on September 23, 2003.

Ferdinand’s case was reported to have included the results of a test carried out on his hair.

Hair tests can rule out the use of recreational drugs but are inconclusive in the case of performance-enhancing drugs.

However, as the panel’s verdict made clear, this was not the central issue at stake with doping chiefs regarding a missed test as a serious offence in itself and their stance is supported by Fifa.

Ferdinand still has the option of appealing to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport against his ongoing ban.

Ferguson upset

United expressed shock at the failure of Ferdinand’s appeal.

“I’m disappointed, everyone is. There’s a sort of sense of shock about it,” Ferguson told a news conference.

“We are not saying anything at the moment, simply because we want to absorb all that was said yesterday, the findings, and digest it and take counsel opinion and things like that,” Ferguson added.

The central defender, who started the ban on January 20, will continue to train with United and Ferguson hopes that will help him deal with his disappointment.

Ferguson said: “That’s something we need to handle. He’s done very well the last two months, he’s been in training all the time and will continue to train. He’s with his colleagues, so hopefully that helps.”

(Agencies)