Rio Ferdinand may be in hot water with the FA after tweeting an apparent racial slur about Ashley Cole.
Mr Ferdinand, who has used his twitter account to make a string of innuendo-laden snipes about his brother Anton's involvement in week's John Terry trial, appeared to apply the offensive term 'choc ice' to the Chelsea left back.
The exchange began when Arsenal-supporting tweeter ‏@CarltonEbanks came out with the following: "@rioferdy5 looks like Ashley Cole's going to be their choc ice. Then again he's always been a sellout. Shame on him."
Ferdinand, using his verified @rioferdy5 account, then responded with a tweet visible to his 3m followers: "@CarltonEbanks I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahahahha!!"
Half an hour later, Mr Ferdinand seemed to explain himself with another tweet saying: "Its sarcasm !"
'Choc ice' is slang, of black American origin, which suggests an individual is 'black on the outside, white on the inside'. It is similar to the term 'coconut', which is better known in the UK. Both are seen as extremely derogatory and offensive terms.
Mr Cole this week gave evidence as part of Mr Terry's defence case, during which he said he and Rio Ferdinand were close friends.
