'Choc ice' row over Ashley Cole role in John Terry acquittal

The fallout from John Terry's acquittal on a charge of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand widened in bizarre fashion on Sunday after the latter's brother Rio Ferdinand had to defend a tweet accusing Terry's Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole of being a 'choc ice.'

Chelsea captain Terry was found not guilty of racially abusing rival player Anton Ferdinand at the end of a five-day trial at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Friday.

However, he may yet face disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA) following allegations he racially abused Anton Ferdinand during a game last October.

Rio Ferdinand defended his response to a tweet sent Saturday in response to a comment sent to his Twitter account which referred to Cole, a defence witness in the trial, as a "choc ice", insisting the term is not racist but rather slang for "someone who is being fake".

The tweeter wrote: "Looks like Ashley Cole's going to be their (Chelsea's) choc ice. Then again he's always been a sell out. Shame on him."

The choc ice term is widely understood to mean black on the outside, white on the inside.

Rio Ferdinand replied with a tweet which read: "I hear you fella!

"Choc ice is classic! hahahahahahha!!"

On Sunday, Rio Ferdinand tweeted: "What I said yesterday is not a racist term. Its a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there."

Cole, 31, had told the trial that Terry, his Stamford Bridge captain and friend, was not racist.

Cole Saturday issued a statement through his lawyers which read: "Ashley Cole has been made aware of the discussion following comments appearing on Twitter and wishes to make it clear that he and Rio Ferdinand are good friends and Ashley has no intention of making any sort of complaint.

"Ashley appreciates that Tweeting is so quick it often results in off-hand and stray comments."