Rio Ferdinand has been handed a £45,000 fine and warned about his future comment over a ‘racist’ slur aimed at Ashley Cole.

The England international was found guilty of improper conduct by the Independent Regulatory Commission over a tweet which referred to the Chelsea left-back as a ‘choc ice’.

Ferdinand retweeted a tweet from a third party calling Cole a ‘choc ice’, before replying: “I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahahaha!!”

The term was deemed to refer to Cole being black on the outside but white on the inside. The exchange came after Cole testified as a defence witness as John Terry’s was cleared of racially abusing Rio’s brother, QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

The Commission seemed to agree with that interpretation and ruled that the tweet was improper and brought the game into disrepute, and that the breach included a reference to ethnic origin, colour or race.