'He did the right thing': Fergie defends Rio Ferdinand's decision to snub England

29 Mar 2013 10:25

United boss 'encouraged' the veteran defender to meet Roy Hodgson face-to-face to discuss his international future

Flight of fancy: Fergie has no problem with Ferdinand travelling to Qatar

Richard Heathcote

Sir Alex Ferguson has defended Rio Ferdinand's controversial decision to snub England, claiming: "He did the right thing."
The Red Devils defender withdrew from Roy Hodgson's squad because he claimed playing on a Friday and Tuesday did not fit in with his pre-planned training schedule.
Fergie claims he handled the tricky situation well and was pleased he took his advice to tell Hodgson the news to his face.
"I think he did the right thing by going down to meet Roy Hodgson," said the Manchester United boss.
"I encouraged him to do that myself. I thought he should go down and do it face to face with Roy and explain how we handle him now and how he prepares for games.
"I think that was the right thing to do and I think Roy appreciated that as far as I'm aware."
Ferguson also defended Ferdinand for jetting off to Qatar to work as a pundit, despite his suspect back.

It's good to talk: Hodgson will speak to Ferdinand again before he decides another recall

Getty

"The players had the weekend off so the players were entitled to do what they wanted to do," he said.
"They trained all last week and were given Friday, Saturday and Sunday off with all the internationals going on.
"So it was his own choice over these things."
England are being investigated over allegations some Three Lions fans racially abused Ferdinand and his younger brother Anton during the San Marino game on Friday and Ferguson claims this is a reflection of modern society.
"I think this is modern society, I'm afraid," he said. "We see a lot of this, supporters' reaction to many things.
"I don't think we can change that and this is the society we're in."
Ferguson, who reported no injuries from the internationals, is also taking no notice of Roberto Mancini's admission that United have won the title race.
Despite United's commanding 15-point lead, his only concern is beating Sunderland tomorrow at the Stadium of Light.
"Our approach has been right and we will just try and win our next game," he said. "That's the only way we can approach it." --------- Mirror Football