After Roy Hodgson decided not to take the Manchester United defender to Poland and Ukraine, his cousin and former England international insists the reason is not football-related
Former England striker Les Ferdinand has hit out at Roy Hodgson’s decision to omit Rio Ferdinand from the Euro 2012 squad, saying it has nothing to do with football.The England management claimed the reason for snubbing the Manchester United defender was that he would not cope with playing two games in succession due to recent injuries.
However, the ex-Newcastle striker, Rio’s cousin, insists there is more to the decision than is being revealed by the England management.
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“There are reasons for there being no Rio,” he told The Mirror. “The politically correct reason is the fact they didn’t believe he could play two games in a short space of time.
“The manager has said that so you have to go along with it. Is that the real reason? I don’t know, I have no idea.
“But we will all try to read between the lines, because Rio has played 38 games this season for Manchester United – and even being injured for a spell, he still managed to play that many.”
There have been suggestions that Ferdinand’s omission was partly down to John Terry’s impending trial for racially abusing his brother Anton, with Hodgson not wanting to risk divides within the squad.
“There was a lot of talk about whether John Terry and Rio would have been able to play in the same team,” the 45-year-old added.
“What I do know that they are both professional players and the one thing they do want is for England to be successful.
“The manager had to make a decision on whether there would be disharmony, but none of that has come out.
“What he said was he didn’t think Rio could play two games in a short space of time. And we have to go along with that.”
