Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has provided a shocking revelation behind what inspired his famous cornrows.
Ferdinand, one of if not the greatest centre-back of all time in the Premier League, famously sported cornrows in his early years at United.
Speaking to the YouTube channel Stripped with Specs & Vuj, Rio revealed that what influenced him to get cornrows was directly connected to his infamous eight-month drug ban in 2003.
The 43-year-old said what led him to get cornrows, “The drug test was the influence. I got banned for missing the drug test.”
“To prove my innocence and that I had not taken any illegal substances, I had to get my hair to two inches or something like that, to a certain length.”
“This was so as to take a hair follicle test that could go a year or 18 months to test if you had any type of madness in your system.”
“That’s why I grew my hair, to prove my innocence.”
😲 “Do you know what the influence was for me to get cornrows?
The drugs test.”
👀 @rioferdy5 discusses 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 drugs test that led to his infamous 8-month ban back in 2003. pic.twitter.com/6D2IAryKjV
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) September 21, 2022
The Red Devils great was handed an eight-month ban for missing a drug test by an independent tribunal which found the former player guilty of misconduct.
Ferdinand was selected to give a sample to UK Sport doping officials at the club’s Carrington training ground – something he failed to do, by his admission.
The decision to ban Ferdinand came after 18 hours of deliberation over two days. Besides the player getting called, Sir Alex Ferguson, club doctor Mike Stone, and Manchester City’s Eyal Berkovic were also summoned.
The legendary defender stayed for 12 years at the Theatre of Dreams, where he had an illustrious career.
In 455 appearances for United, he won six Premier League titles, a Champions League and three FA Cups.
