Ferdinand to fight misconduct charge

Rio Ferdinand yesterday responded with a formal denial of the misconduct charge brought against him by the Football Association for failing to attend a drugs test. The Manchester United defender waited until the very last minutes of his 14-day deadline to respond to the charge, which was triggered by his failure to take the test on 23 September.

Ferdinand's disciplinary hearing is unlikely to take place until mid-December, meaning he should be available for the club's two remaining Champions' League group matches. He will be represented by a team from United's lawyers, James Chapman.

An FA spokesman said: "Rio Ferdinand has responded to the charge issued on 29 October. He has denied the charge and requested a personal hearing. A date for the hearing will be scheduled in due course."

Manchester United insist Ferdinand was merely invoking his right to wait until the 14 days were up before responding to the FA's charge, and deny suggestions that they were employing delaying tactics to ensure the hearing takes place after Manchester United's final Champions' League group matches, against Panathinaikos on 26 November and Stuttgart on 9 December.

The FA, Ferdinand and United will now attempt to fix a mutually convenient date for the hearing. However, if it is delayed too long then Ferdinand could still be suspended during the Euro 2004 finals next June.

The crux of the case will centre on evidence from the FA's compliance unit that there was a deliberate element to the player leaving the club's Carrington training ground without taking a test, after a team from UK Sport had requested that Ferdinand and three other players provide urine samples.

United are close to signing the Chinese forward Dong Fangzhou, according to their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who said: "We're signing a Chinese boy, hopefully in the next few weeks."

The 18-year-old, who plays for Dalian Shide, had a trial at Old Trafford in September and his club manager, Lin Lefeng, added: "What United have offered is not meant to be disclosed, but I can assure you that it is more than a million [pounds] we are talking about here."

Today, Shareholders United, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, will attempt to secure a pledge at the club's Annual General Meeting to deter anyone from attempting a takeover. The Supporters' Trust collectively owns 17 per cent of shares in Manchester United plc.