England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has hit out at the FA's disciplinary procedures and claimed Rio Ferdinand should have been suspended for missing a drugs test. The Manchester United and England defender missed a drugs test in September and Fifa president Sepp Blatter recently criticised the FA for allowing him to continue playing while the case came to a conclusion. Ferdinand will appear before an FA disciplinary hearing at Bolton's Reebok Stadium on December 18 to answer charges of failing to take the test. He insists he simply forgot to give a sample after training but Eriksson has backed Blatter's stance. He is quoted in tomorrow's Sunday Mirror and News of the World as saying: Sepp Blatter is right in one respect, you miss a drug test and you are banned. "The Rio Ferdinand situation has been going on for 10 weeks, it is far too long. It is the system that is wrong but I think it will be changed now. It is no good for the game, it is no good for the player." Eriksson is unhappy with the FA's disciplinary process, which is being revised, and cited the example of Joe Cole, who waited eight months to be banned for misconduct. He added: "Look at Joe Cole. He's just been banned for something that happened last April. He was a West Ham player but now Chelsea are being punished. "In Italy punishments are dealt with swiftly. If a player gets a red card he is sentenced on the Tuesday. If he requests a personal hearing it's dealt with in Milan on the Thursday."
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