England players back down

England players backed down on Wednesday from an unprecedented threat to boycott Saturday's Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey, but delivered a furious rebuke to their ruling Football Association (FA).

Players had threatened to plunge the English game into crisis by not travelling to Istanbul if the FA would not reverse its decision on Tuesday to drop Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand for missing a drugs test.

But after two days of talks, FA chief executive Mark Palios told a news conference late on Wednesday: "I'm very pleased to say that the full England squad will be travelling to Turkey tomorrow.

"The last two days have been very difficult. Emotions have been running high and understandably so.

"We have held several meetings -- and we have discussed all of the issues surrounding Rio being left out of this England squad.

"I fully appreciate, understand and respect the support the players have given Rio. Teams do stick together."

Faced with one of the biggest crises in its 140-year history, the FA had been adamant it would not back down on the issue and the players have effectively been forced to cave in.

But England players issued a stinging attack on the FA in a statement, saying: "It is our opinion that the organisation that we represent has not only let down one of our team mates but the whole of the England squad and its manager.

"We feel that they have failed us very badly."

Their anger is based on the fact that Ferdinand, who missed a doping control at Manchester United's training ground on September 23, was ruled ineligible for selection for England before his interview with the FA on Monday.

"One of our team mates was penalised without being given the rights he is entitled to and without any charges being brought against him by the governing body of the game," the players said.

"Rio Ferdinand was entitled to confidentiality and a 'fair' hearing in front of an independent commission.

TEAM DAMAGED

"We believe the people responsible for making the decision did not give Rio Ferdinand that due process and have disrupted and made the team weaker against the wishes of the manager and the players."

Apologising for any concerns they may have caused football fans and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, players added: "In our minds, there has never been any question as to whether we would play in this game.

"All the England players are proud to wear the England shirt and would never let England, Sven-Goran Eriksson or our magnificent fans down."

Looking ahead, they said: "We are fully focussed on the match in Istanbul and the only thing that matters to the whole of the England squad and manager is that we qualify for the European Championships next summer."

England, who would have been disqualified from the tournament had the strike gone ahead, need a draw in Istanbul to qualify for next year's tournament in Portugal as Group Seven winners.

PLAYER UNITY

Eriksson said: "I'm very happy to say that everything has been sorted out. From tonight we will focus 200 percent on football."

Looking on the positive side, Eriksson said the players' desire to defend Ferdinand showed the unity of the group and added: "I'm sure that you will see that as well on Saturday in Turkey."

England players' sentiments had been shared by United and the players' union the Professional Footballers Association, who both criticised the FA's handling of the matter.

Palios, who said the FA had acted properly over the issue of confidentiality, did seek to build bridges with the players by saying the issue of its current anti-doping rules was being reviewed.

"And it is very clear to me that there are a number of areas we need to look at to ensure that we do have the best possible system -- for example the speed of the disciplinary process," he said.

Any boycott would have jeopardised England's position in the international game at a time when its domestic standing has been hit by a series of lurid allegations about English footballers' behaviour off the pitch.

Ferdinand issued a statement on Tuesday saying he was devastated at being ruled out of such an important game and denied he had ever used drugs.