Ferdinand: I was a fool

Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was a 'fool' to miss a drugs test in September 2003.

Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was a 'fool' to miss the drugs test which ultimately cost the England international an eight-month suspension from the game.

The Manchester United man missed Euro 2004 after missing the test in September 2003, and it is an episode that clearly still rankles with the player.

Ferdinand was delighted to be publicly exonerated two days later, but admits it was a mistake not to take the test - after claiming famously that he was spending the day shopping.

"I was a fool, I made a mistake. I tried to rectify it and rang the FA but I couldn't get through to anyone. I took a test two days later and was clear," said Ferdinand, in an extract from his forthcoming autobiography, Rio: My Story, published in the Sun.

"I didn't cry, I still thought I could play football. I don't want sympathy, I just want people to understand the truth of what happened."

Ferdinand also shed light on England's World Cup preparations, with the defender admitting they may have been hampered by the proliferation of players' wives and girlfriends at this past summer's tournament.

"A lot of the players, like me, thought it was good to have families there. But towards the end the mood changed. Some of us were saying having them so near wasn't such a great idea," said Ferdinand.

"If it was up to me in 2010, which it won't be, then I would put it down to a players' vote. I would be voting against having the families so close.

"They could maybe come for a visit after the first three games, stay for one night, then go to their base in another part of the country.

"Unfortunately the World Cup will be remembered in England more for the WAGS than for what the players did on the pitch."