Fifa will intervene if FA deals leniently with Ferdinand

World governing body ups pressure over defender's missed drugs test

The pressure was raised on both the Football Association and Rio Ferdinand yesterday as Fifa, the world governing body, waded into the investigation over the Manchester United player's failure to take a drugs test.

Michel D'Hooghe, the head of Fifa's medical committee, said Ferdinand should be punished for missing the test last month and insisted Fifa would step in if it considered English FA sanctions too lenient.

"The case is serious and he certainly has to be punished," D'Hooghe said. Ferdinand, who had a personal hearing with the FA's compliance unit yesterday, is still waiting to see what charges, if any, will be laid.

The probability is that he will be charged with failing to take the test, rather than the more serious one of wilfully refusing to do so. The compliance unit is still awaiting written evidence, including telephone records, but should rule by the end of the week. Ferdinand would then face a disciplinary hearing. Manchester United's lawyers are expected to challenge any punishment which is out of step with previous cases. Past precedent thus suggests he will be heavily fined rather than banned.

This, though, could lead the FA and Ferdinand into trouble with Fifa. D'Hooghe added: "Fifa will wait and assess whether a serious sanction is forthcoming, one which fits the infringement. We'll let the English do their work first. If everything is correct, we won't have to do anything."

Under World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines, Ferdinand could be banned for two years but D'Hooghe pointed out that Wada rules were not binding on Fifa. "We are applying individual case management and the sanction could be less, it could be more than two years," he explained.

Ferdinand's case is expected to be mentioned at Fifa's executive board meeting during this weekend's congress in Qatar, which D'Hooghe will be attending.

Fifa's intervention may have one benefit for the English game: it could speed attempts at a rapprochement between the FA, Manchester United and the Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union.

Mark Palios, the FA's chief executive, who was behind the decision to omit Ferdinand from England's match in Istanbul last Saturday, yesterday began the peace-making. In a statement he said: "The events of the past week have become one of the highest-profile issues in the FA's history and we need to ensure that we learn from this experience.

"I have initiated a full review. In the meantime I will be meeting with Manchester United and the PFA to ensure these important footballing relationships move forward in the most positive way," he added.

Not that Palios is going soft. "The crux of this matter is not about disagreements between major footballing bodies," he said. "It concerns the importance of the FA's anti-doping programme and the FA's right to govern the game with integrity. And despite huge public and media pressure neither of these points were negotiable."

Palios, who insisted that Ferdinand's confidentiality had not been breached by the FA, concluded: "It is now time to move on. Let's hope that Saturday night's result focuses everyone back on the positive aspects of the English game."