10 Footballing Scandals That Shocked The World

5. Rio Ferdinand's Missed Drugs Test

File photo dated 08-05-2014 of Wayne and Coleen Rooney watch The Boodles Diamond Handicap Stakes during day two of the 2014 Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse.
Clint Hughes/AP

Like Terry and Giggs, Rio Ferdinand is rightly regarded as one of the finest players to grace the Premier League.

His spell at Man United was a trophy-laden period, while he racked up 81 caps for England and proved himself one of the finest ball-playing centre-halves in the world.

However, much like Giggs and Terry, Ferdinand couldn't keep himself out of the headlines thanks in part to a massive error of judgement.

Ferdinand stupidly forgot to attend a routine drugs test at Man United's training ground in September 2003, a move which would cost him eight months of his career, including missing out on England's Euro 2004 campaign.

Despite trying to come back for the test after remembering on the day, and subsequently passing it the day after, Ferdinand was banned by FIFA, with Sepp Blatter even seeking to extend that ban at one point.

Ferdinand bounced back strongly from the ban, but its length sent a strong message to the footballing world.

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