Rio's shown 'no sign of remorse' say commission

The former England captain was banned for three matches and fined £25,000 due to his conduct on the social network, with the Football Association citing a potentially insulting reference to gender.

After being sent a message from another Twitter user, which read, "Maybe QPR will sign a good CB they need one," Ferdinand replied using the derogatory slang term "sket".

The Independent Regulatory Commission released its written reasons for the case on Wednesday and revealed Ferdinand - through his solicitors - had claimed his use of the word was not derogatory, an explanation that was rejected. 

The commission's statement read: "Unfortunately there is no formal or direct admission and there is certainly no sign of remorse. The Regulatory Commission members extracted what 'mitigation' they could from the solicitor's letter, but again reminded themselves that Mr Ferdinand had simply not responded at all to the actual charge brought against him despite several requests for him to do so."

Ferdinand's previous breach of FA Rule E3 for reference to race in 2012 could have seen him landed with an immediate ban of more than five matches for his latest indiscretion, but the written nature of the offence permitted the Commission to issue a smaller ban.