Rio's Penalty: The Real Story

In his first television interview since his suspension from football, Rio Ferdinand tells Real Story's Fiona Bruce why he believes he has been unfairly treated.

The 25-year-old was "devastated" at the Football Association's decision to uphold an eight-month ban for missing a mandatory drugs test.

The £30m Manchester United defender will now miss the rest of the season, as well as sitting out Euro 2004.

His lengthy suspension is the result of his driving away from training on 23 September last year having, he claims, forgotten to take a test.

The FA now accepts that it had no reason to think that Ferdinand missed the test for drug related reasons, but a disciplinary commission decided he should still be punished with the ban and a £50,000 fine.

Manchester United, who moved swiftly to appeal against the decision, called the suspension "unduly harsh and unprecedented."

However, both the Football Association and Fifa wanted the panel to increase it to 12 months.

Has Rio Ferdinand been dealt with harshly or is his ban a necessary signal to everyone in football that the war against doping is finally being taken seriously?

Real Story: BBC One, Monday 22 March 2004, 1930 GMT and live on the Real Story website.