Rio's £15m shopping trip

Ferdinand was "devastated" by yesterday's ruling at a hearing near Heathrow Airport, where the FA made a second attempt to increase the ban to 12 months. Standard Sport revealed on the day of his original tribunal in December that the prosecution were pushing for a year's ban.

Ferdinand said: "I am absolutely devastated at this verdict. The panel have said I am not a drug-taker.

"The main thing keeping me going throughout this has been the possibility of playing again this season. This verdict has taken that hope away from me."

As world football's richest business, United owed it to their shareholders to contest the ban.

But the club would now be well advised to give up the fight and save thousands of pounds on legal fees.

There have been suggestions that the England defender might take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland.

But some lawyers suggested today that this may not be possible since an appeal has already taken place.

The big danger of taking the case to CAS is that the ban could still be increased, especially since it only amounts to a third of the two years recommended by the World Anti-Doping Agency for missing a drugs test.

WADA chairman Dick Pound said: "I think he continues to dodge a bullet as there was a great chance that the penalty could have been increased. A player at his level in a team at that level knows there's an anti-doping programme and does not just forget to go for a test.

"It now falls to FIFA to see whether they agree with what's been done."

Sepp Blatter, president of the sport's world ruling body, has been very critical of the handling of the case - calling it a classic example of how NOT to deal with a doping offence.