SOCCER/Rio Ferdinand Crisis: England's squad last night dramatically backed down from their threat to pull out of Saturday's vital Euro 2004 qualifying match in Turkey on Saturday.

The reversal - following long talks with the English Football Association - came after a dramatic personal intervention by the player at the centre of the row, Rio Ferdinand, who had been dropped from the squad after failing to take an official drugs test. He told his team-mates he wanted them to play on.

Amid extraordinary scenes, Mark Palios, the newly-appointed chief executive of the FA and the man behind the decision to exclude Ferdinand, said last night: "I fully appreciate, understand and respect the support the players have given to Rio. Teams do stick together. I listened very carefully to the players, they have some very strong views."

It seems that the FA has stood firm in the face of the revolt, promising only to review procedures. Last night's statement from the players' camp read:

"We feel that, this week, the whole of our squad have shown that togetherness and spirit to be as strong as ever in the best possible way.

"It is our opinion that the organisation we represent has not only let down one of our team-mates, but the whole of the England squad and its manager. We feel that they have failed us very badly.

"One of our team-mates was penalised without being given the rights he is entitled to and without any charges being brought against him by the governing body of the game. Rio Ferdinand was entitled to confidentiality and a 'fair' hearing in front of an independent commission.

"We believe the people responsible for making the decision did not give Rio Ferdinand that due process and (that) has disrupted and made the team weaker against the wishes of the manager and the players."

The squad are due to board a plane to Istanbul this afternoon for Saturday's match.

Ferdinand's intervention came during the afternoon when he telephoned England's captain David Beckham and Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville and urged them to go ahead with the crucial match.

"He told them, 'thank you for your support', but he wants to play in Euro 2004 and he knows there is a better chance of that happening if they go to Istanbul," his agent, Pini Zahavi, said.

Ferdinand's intervention was in marked contrast to that of his Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who is said to have spoken to one of his players in the squad and advised the players to make the FA sweat.

Ferguson has a long history of difficult relationships with England managers over their demands upon Manchester United players.

The decision to exclude Ferdinand, taken four days before the most important match of the season, had enraged his England colleagues and on Tuesday night they voted unanimously to consider not boarding the plane to Turkey unless he was reinstated.

After training yesterday morning a players' committee, led by Beckham and including Neville, Ferdinand's defensive partner Sol Campbell, striker Michael Owen and goalkeeper David James, informed the FA that they would not travel to Istanbul unless the defender was among them. The FA rejected the players' demand out of hand.

The stand-off was a test of player power and the leadership of the FA's new chief executive Mark Palios whose hard line on drug policy led directly to Ferdinand being thrown out.

Palios arrived at the team hotel in St Albans last night in an attempt to avert all-out rebellion, having delegated most of the negotiations to Paul Barber, the FA's head of marketing and communications.

England's coach Sven Goran Eriksson was known to be exasperated at the disruption to such a crucial match. The saga will do nothing to ease speculation that he will leave the post when England's Euro 2004 campaign comes to an end.

Despite the clear gap between the players and the English FA, Barber said that the FA had not considered calling up a replacement squad of those selected refused to go to Istanbul.

Ferdinand was excluded after failing to supply a sample to drugs testers at Manchester United's training ground two weeks ago. Palios took the decision to ban Ferdinand personally, saying it would be inappropriate to select the player for the match with a drugs charge hanging over him.

Ferdinand will meet officers from the FA's compliance team on Monday, but faces a maximum two-year ban for the offence.

The FA's hard line on the case outraged Manchester United who are considering legal action on the player's behalf, but it was applauded by the British sports minister Richard Caborn yesterday.

In a letter to Palios the minister said: "It is not easy for governing bodies at times and I think the FA has taken a very difficult decision well."

There was more bad news for the troubled squad last night, however, when Michael Owen was ruled out of the match through injury.

And the English FA is to discuss terminating David Platt's contract as England under-21 manager, even though it risks further damage to the relationship between Eriksson and Palios.

Eriksson will fight to keep Platt in the job, but the Swede's influence might not be enough to help after the failure of England to qualify for the European Under-21 Championship.

Palios is not alone at Soho Square in harbouring grave concerns that a talented squad comprising outstanding young players such as Jermain Defoe and Gareth Barry failed to reach next summer's competition, and tomorrow's otherwise irrelevant group match in Turkey might be Platt's last.

No decision has been taken yet, but the issue will figure prominently on Palios's to-do list after the qualifying issues for the seniors are settled on Saturday or, in the event of a play-off, next month.

So strong are the reservations about Platt, however, that his only realistic chance of staying depends on how reluctant Palios is to go against Eriksson, who was instrumental in appointing the former Nottingham Forest manager.