Reuters

Ferdinand to captain England

Updated 06.30 Wed Mar 26 2008

Keywords: fabio capello, england, rio ferdinand, manchester united, football, sport

Rio Ferdinand will be England's captain for the friendly against France in Paris.

England coach Fabio Capello has decided to share the captaincy around to see which player is best suited to the job and Ferdinand replaces Steven Gerrard, who led England for the friendly against Switzerland.

"Capello has confirmed this continues his policy of rotating the captaincy" - FA statement

An FA statement said: "Capello has confirmed this continues his policy of rotating the captaincy between players in the friendly matches before confirming a permanent captain for the World Cup qualifying games."

Capello's decision may be seen as a sign that Ferdinand has been forgiven for missing a drugs test in 2004.

He was banned from playing for eight months and missed England Euro 2004 campaign.