Sol Campbell condemns Rio Ferdinand England omission

Former England defender Sol Campbell has hit out at the decision to drop Rio Ferdinand from England's Euro 2012 squad.

The ex-Arsenal man told CNN that he suspects off-field issues were to blame for the omission, despite manager Roy Hodgson's claims that it was down to "footballing reasons".

He said: "I don't know the conversation Roy Hodgson has had with John Terry or Rio Ferdinand. That's going to probably be kept quiet, who knows. But I think [the racism issue] did play a small or a big part in it.

"But you can't say it's for footballing reasons, because he's experienced and he's done fantastic for his club, especially in the last three months."

Hodgson, who named his 23-man England squad earlier today, has handed the captain's armband to Steven Gerrard for this summer's finals.