Manchester United found themselves fighting rearguard actions on two fronts over the weekend, neither of them on the pitch.

First United's lawyers blocked News International from serialising a warts-and-all book written by the club's former security chief Ned Kelly, a dispute that will go to the high court this week. The club, however, was unable to prevent the News of the World publishing details of Rio Ferdinand's mobile telephone bills yesterday.

"Rio: His Mobile Was On" said the headline, which will be of interest to the English Football Association, which has still not received the phone records a week after requesting them.

At the end of last week a strongly worded memo had been sent out by Ferdinand's lawyers to national newspapers warning of the possible consequences of publishing unauthorised information. In hindsight they may consider that not too much damage has been done.

The records appear to show that two hours passed between Ferdinand leaving training and getting in touch with either the club's doctor Mike Stone or the drug-testers. But the phone records also show Ferdinand interrupted his shopping to ring Stone once and the Football Association twice, three calls that seem to corroborate the evidence he supplied to his initial disciplinary hearing a week ago.

Where it might harm his case is if Ferdinand, as has been widely reported, claimed his mobile was switched off. United had certainly not disputed that story but now there is a subtle but crucial difference in their version of events. The club's official line is that Ferdinand's phone was not off but switched on to the "silent" setting.

The FA had asked Ferdinand to supply copies of his mobile phone records to help establish whether his failure to provide a sample was accidental or the more serious offence of wilfully missing a test.

Stone is said to have told Ferdinand about the test as soon as he finished training, and then asked another player to remind him. United officials fear that Ferdinand faces a suspension over either charge, with the FA apparently determined to make an example of him. United would then consider either appealing to the FA or taking the matter to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, based in Lausanne. A civil action could also be a possibility.