Ferdinand caught up in furious row on Twitter

Gordon Tynan
Tuesday 07 June 2011 19:00 EDT
Comments
Holt wrote that Ferdinand (above) had called him a 'fat prick'
Holt wrote that Ferdinand (above) had called him a 'fat prick' (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Rio Ferdinand became embroiled in a Twitter row yesterday with a leading sports journalist over the player's eight-month ban in 2004 for missing a drugs test the previous year.

The Daily Mirror chief sports writer Oliver Holt revealed that he had been the subject of a tirade from Ferdinand on the direct message function of Twitter. Holt wrote that Ferdinand had called him a "fat prick" for arguing that the Manchester United player had not recognised that a missed test should be regarded as a failed test.

The row continued when Ferdinand approached Holt at Wembley after England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Switzerland on Saturday. In his column in today's Daily Mirror, in which Holt described the incident, he wrote that he told Ferdinand that missing the drugs test meant that a cloud of suspicion would always hang over him.

Holt writes: "For what it's worth, my instinct tells me that Ferdinand probably didn't have anything to hide when he missed his test eight years ago. But I'll never know for sure if I'm right. I told him that, too. 'You're a cock,' he said. Then security stepped between us."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in