Page 42 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

six

RIO Ferdinand’s eight-month suspension was a shock that reverberated to the core of Manchester
United, and my indignation endures to this day. My issue is not with the rules on dope testing, but with
how the process unfolded on the day Rio was meant to provide a routine sample at our training
ground.
On 23 September 2003, a drug-testing team from UK Sport arrived at Carrington to take random

samples from four of our players, whose names were picked out of a hat. What started as a routine
training day was to have huge ramifications for Rio, his family, Manchester United and England. Rio,
who was one of those selected, left Carrington without providing a sample, and by the time we
managed to get hold of him, the drug testers had left for the day. He took the test the following day, 24
September, but was told he was in breach of the ‘strict liability’ rule on dope tests and would be

charged.
The outcome was that Rio was banned from 20 January to 2 September 2004 and fined £50,000.
Aside from all the Man United games he missed, it also meant he was ineligible for the 2004
European Championship in Portugal. His removal by the FA from the England squad to play Turkey in
October 2003 almost caused a strike by the England players.
On the fateful morning in September, the testers were having a cup of tea and, in my judgment,
didn’t do their job. They didn’t go looking for Rio. My view of it is that the testers should go to the

pitch and stand there until the player finishes training, then follow him to the dressing room. Round
about that time, testers went to Wrexham Football Club and ended up testing my son Darren and two
other players. They stayed on the pitch, escorted them to the changing area and extracted the necessary
urine sample. Why did that not happen with Rio at Carrington?
We knew the testers were at our training centre because Mike Stone, the doctor, told us the drug
people were on the premises. Mike had a cup of tea with them while the message was sent down to

the affected players in the dressing room. Rio was given the message, no doubt about that, but if you
think of Rio’s laidback nature, it was no surprise that he failed to hook up with people who were
nowhere to be seen.
He was not a drug taker. Rio Ferdinand was not a drug taker. We would have known. It shows in
their eyes. And he never missed a training session. Drug takers are all over the place. They become
inconsistent. Rio would never be a drug taker because his sense of responsibility as to who he is in
sport is too big. Rio is an intelligent guy but easy-going. He made a mistake, but so did the drug

people. They didn’t take the steps that would have averted the crisis that ensued. They should have
been on that training field, waiting to take him in for his test.
I was aware that a serious breach of the drug-testing rules had been committed but I still found it
hard to believe that Rio would end up with such a brutal punishment. The tendency is to treat players