Rio Ferdinand defends "choc ice" tweet

Rio Ferdinand has responded to claims that he fuelled the racism row at the heart of English football last night.

The Manchester United defender appeared to endorse another Twitter user's employment of the phrase "choc ice", which can be interpreted to mean 'black on the outside, white on the inside', when referring to Ashley Cole.

However, Ferdinand, who deleted his tweet relating to the incident, insists that he did not mean it in a racist way.

He tweeted this morning: "What I said yesterday is not a racist term. Its a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there."

Cole's representatives quickly moved to defuse the situation by releasing a statement saying that they would take no further action.