It’s time for England to drop Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand

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England will head to the World Cup in South Africa in June as one of the tournament’s favorites.

It will also be one of the favorites to have a player ejected from a game -- as midfielder David Beckham famously was against Argentina in 1998 and forward Wayne Rooney equally famously was against Portugal in 2006.

This time around, the culprit could well be defender Rio Ferdinand, unless England Coach Fabio Capello finds a way to instill some discipline in the 31-year-old or, better yet, drops him from the squad altogether.

Ferdinand’s latest scrape with authorities -- one of many in his career -- involved an unseemly tussle with Hull City’s Craig Fagan last Saturday in which Ferdinand struck Fagan with his arm. The incident was caught on camera and Ferdinand was handed a three-game suspension.

In a misguided move, Ferdinand denied the allegation and was promptly punished further.

England’s Football Assn. said it ‘felt that the player’s denial of the charge was frivolous and on that basis have awarded an additional one-match ban upon the statutory three-match ban awarded for violent conduct.’

So Ferdinand will now miss four games. Meanwhile, over in Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo has been handed a two-game ban by authorities for a very similar action -- throwing an elbow into the face of Patrick Mtiliga during Real Madrid’s match against Malaga on Sunday.

The Danish player suffered a broken nose, Ronaldo was red-carded for ‘dangerous play,’ and the Spanish soccer federation suspended Ronaldo for two games, later denying his appeal.

And what ties all this together?

Perhaps the fact that Beckham, Rooney, Ferdinand and Ronaldo are or were players under Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. The coach has a proven track record of winning titles, no one can contest that, but one reason why United is so widely disliked outside of Manchester is the arrogance that is transmitted from the coach to his players.

It is Ferguson’s weak point, and unless Capello takes firm action, it could also be England’s weak point when it plays the U.S., Algeria and Slovenia at the World Cup in June.

-- Grahame L. Jones