LONDON -- Eric Cantona's record ban of eight months is unlikely to be beaten, but sometime Friday a Football Association disciplinary commission will decide whether Rio Ferdinand is guilty of "the failure or refusal to submit to drug testing as required by a competent official."
Cantona was handed an eight-match suspension by the F.A. after the Manchester United striker attacked a spectator as he left the pitch following his sending off at Crystal Palace in January 1995.