Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand appeals over game ban

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has opted to appeal against his increased ban for violent conduct imposed by the Football Association.

The 31-year-old lost his original appeal against a three-match suspension for an altercation with Craig Fagan in the 4-0 win over Hull on 23 January.

The FA labelled the appeal "frivolous" and increased his ban to four games.

The appeal board will meet before the end of next week and could decide to further increase the punishment.

If that happens, Ferdinand will be ruled out of the Carling Cup final against Aston Villa on 28 February at Wembley.

Ferdinand only returned to action at Old Trafford against Hull for the first time in three months after recovering from a calf injury.

But after appearing to swing an arm at Hull striker Fagan, the England centre-half picked up a three-match ban, which was then extended to four after the FA rejected the defender's appeal.

Because of the appeal, Ferdinand, who has made only 10 appearances for his club so far this season, was able to play in the Carling Cup semi-final win over Manchester City.

His ban began at the Emirates against Arsenal on Sunday and he will definitely miss the next Premier League matches with Portsmouth and Aston Villa.

If Ferdinand is successful in overturning the extra match ban then he will be available for the clash at Everton on 20 February.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson expressed his displeasure last week with the disciplinary processes being used by the game's governing body.

The Scot said at the time there were "conflicting ways in how these decisions are being viewed".

He added: "I watched the game between Leyton Orient and Charlton (on Monday 25 January) and there was an elbow on the Charlton player three times as he was running with the ball.

"But nothing has happened with that. There is a lot of confusion there."

The United defence has been ravaged by injury for much of the season with Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville, John O'Shea and Wes Brown all spending lengthy periods on the sidelines.

From BBC