What is happening at the hearing?

By Tom Fordyce

Ferdinand could be banned for up to two years

Rio Ferdinand is in the midst of the disciplinary hearing which will decide his immediate future.

But how exactly will the process work, and who are the people who will decide whether Ferdinand is punished, and how severely, for failing to attend a drugs test last September?

---

The hearing began at 1100 GMT on Thursday at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton.

The independent three-man commission is headed by 56-year-old retired estate agent Barry Bright, chairman of the Football Association's disciplinary committee and FA councillor for Kent since 1984.

Bright has appointed his two fellow commission members, Roger Burden (Gloucestershire FA) and Frank Pattison (Durham FA), on the basis of their experience in the field of anti-doping.

None of the three have been involved in the gathering of evidence which forms the case against Ferdinand.

Bright himself has responsibility for the FA's doping control programme and has sat on a number of major drugs cases for Uefa.

He chaired the panel which fined Ferdinand's team-mate Roy Keane £150,000 in October last year for comments made in his autobiography about Alf Inge Haaland, and also the commission which banned Robbie Fowler for four games in 1999 for pretending to snort the goal line during the Merseyside derby.

Bright headed the panel that handed Mark Bosnich a nine-month ban after the goalkeeper tested positive for cocaine.

After Bright's opening statement, the FA's case against Ferdinand was presented first. It has been prepared by Steve Barrow, head of the FA's compliance unit, and was submitted by Mark Gay.

Gay represented the England and Wales Cricket Board during the row over England's cancelled trip to Zimbabwe earlier this year, and is also working for the International Association of Athletics Federations in their case against American sprinter Kelli White.

Ferdinand's legal team, led by Graham Shear - the lawyer who is also defending Dwain Chambers in his THG case - then made the case for the defence.

In Ferdinand's corner are Ronald Thwaites QC and Maurice Watkins, a Manchester United director and solicitor

Ferdinand will bring forward an extensive list of witnesses, including Manchester City midfielder Eyal Berkovic, who is believed to have been with his former West Ham team-mate on the afternoon in question.

A character statement from England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is also expected to be presented. Sir Alex Ferguson and Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, are expected to speak on the player's behalf.

United's club doctor Mike Stone will provide a detailed chronology of how events at the club's training ground unfolded on 23 September.

Provision has been made for it to continue into Saturday morning if necessary, but BBC Sport understands that every effort will be made to have it concluded by Friday night.

When the three men have heard the cases for both prosecution and defence, they retire to consider their verdict.

The commission must reach a majority decision.

When the verdict is announced to the two parties, Ferdinand's team then has 14 days to appeal against any punishment.

But an appeal would delay the start of any ban - meaning that Ferdinand would risk missing both the crucial games in the Premiership run-in and also possibly Euro 2004.

The FA must accept the ruling of the commission.