SOCCER: FIFA president Sepp Blatter has again severely criticised the English FA over their delay in dealing with the Rio Ferdinand case.

Having failed to take a drug test on September 23rd, the Manchester United defender has since played eight Premiership and four Champions League games.

The Manchester United defender will finally answer the case against him on the 18th and 19th of this month, but Blatter said yesterday the hearing should have proceeded within a week of the incident, and that Ferdinand should have been suspended during the intervening time.

"The case of Ferdinand is not a case which is under the direct authority of FIFA and I don't know every detail of it," Blatter said at the press conference that followed the meeting of the federation's executive committee here.

"Perhaps he is innocent, I don't know. But if he is innocent, then declare him innocent.

"Such cases must be dealt with immediately," he added. "You cannot push the case to tomorrow, the day after or whatever. It should have been dealt with within one week. If not, then the player must be considered not to be eligible as long as his case is being dealt with."

It is not the first time Blatter has criticised the handling of the Ferdinand affair and Manchester United chief executive David Gill recently described the FIFA official's previous remarks in relation to the case as "incomprehensible". Asked about Gill's comments, Blatter said they may have been made "because he doesn't have a clear conscience".

Earlier this week the English FA's executive director, David Davies, claimed the delay in bringing the case to a hearing resulted in part from an unintended lack of clarity in the association's rules.

"No one is pretending that we are happy with the length of time this Ferdinand case has taken," he said, "but we have to work with the processes that we have."

Blatter said, however, he had been in touch with the FA's Geoff Thompson on Wednesday and conveyed his displeasure over the situation. He went on to express amazement that Chelsea's Joe Cole had received only a suspension this week in relation to a sending off at the end of last season.

The local organising committee for the 2006 World Cup has, meanwhile, announced tickets for the competition will start at €35 for the games of the opening round, rising to €600 for the best seats in the house for the final. The issue took up a good deal of time at yesterday's executive committee meeting, at which FIFA apparently pressed the Germans to introduce a fourth price category in order to broaden the range of prices available. The organisers eventually agreed, although they now get to decide how many tickets for each game are sold at these lower prices.

Admission to group stage games, with the exception of the opening match, will range from €35 to €100, while charges will then progressively rise until the final, for which the cheapest tickets will cost €120. The bulk of the tickets will be sold over the Internet and through the associations of nations which qualify.