Former Toon Defender Hits Out!

Last updated : 07 June 2012 By Footy Mad - Editor

Sol Campbell: "The further this saga drags on the more it does not make sense and the more it undermines Roy Hodgson and the Football Association as a whole.

"We have now reached a point where big questions have to be asked over Rio Ferdinand's exclusion from England's squad for Euro 2012, such as what are the real reasons, and why? And is there a cover-up?

"What we can say for sure is that this entire situation goes back to what did or did not happen between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand last season.

"That is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn and I for one never bought the argument that Rio had been left out of the original squad for 'footballing reasons'.

"The FA now find themselves between a rock and a hard place and the only way they can truly resolve the situation is to come out and admit they've made a mistake.

"At the very least Rio should have been given the opportunity to say 'no, I don't want to be in the same squad as John Terry'.

"Hodgson should have spoken to him man-to-man, face-to-face, eyeball-to-eyeball and seen where he was at, seen if he felt capable of contributing to the team and being around Terry for the next three weeks.

"A wider issue is if this episode leads to players in the future feeling reluctant to speak out against racism in case it harms their chances of being picked by England.

"That would be extremely serious and would have to lead to the government getting involved in some way."