The Football Association on Tuesday defended its decision to rule out Rio Ferdinand from England's key Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey last weekend.
FA chief executive Mark Palios denied accusations that the association had violated confidentiality rules in the case.
Manchester United, meanwhile, said it would continue to pick Ferdinand for the team pending any possible sanctions by the FA.
Ferdinand, English soccer's most expensive player, allegedly "forgot" to take a random drug test on Sept. 23 at Manchester United's training ground because he was preoccupied with moving house.
Even though he took -- and passed -- a test 36 hours later, Ferdinand was excluded by the FA from last Saturday's game, prompting the England team to threaten a boycott.
The players dropped the threat and played to a 0-0 draw.
Ferdinand met with the FA for more than three hours Monday.
"Some people have questioned whether we have at any point stepped outside our due process for disciplinary reasons. I can confirm that we have not," chief executive Mark Palios said in a statement. "Our decision to exclude Rio was a policy decision in our role representing England team affairs and was not part of the formal disciplinary process."
The Professional Footballers' Association has criticized the FA for naming Ferdinand, but Palios said his name had been disclosed by others earlier.
"At no time did we breach confidentiality," he said. "The FA's statement on the matter came many hours after Rio Ferdinand was named in public comments from both Manchester United, the PFA, and, it would appear, from numerous other sources.
"To the best of my knowledge, this organization did not leak any confidential information."
Published reports Tuesday said the FA would ask for Ferdinand's mobile-phone records before deciding on his punishment, reportedly to see whether his phone was switched off as United officials tried to reach him.
Ferdinand could face two possible charges -- failure to appear for the test or "willful failure" to appear. The second charge, more serious, could lead to a two-year ban. Manchester United said Tuesday it would continue picking Ferdinand until an announcement is made. United plays Leeds on Saturday.
"Rio will continue to be selected until such time as whatever punishment is decided upon is meted out and begins," chief executive David Gill told the Manchester Evening News.
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