The FIFA president also warned that unless the FA fell into line with FIFA’s ruling about automatic and immediate suspensions for sendings-off, they could be reported to the body’s disciplinary commission who have the ultimate power to suspend a national association from international football.

Blatter said: “What I am not happy about with this case (Ferdinand) is the speed, or rather the non-speed, of dealing with it.

“Such a case should be dealt with immediately to have a decision and avoid all the discussions that happen when a decision is made far away from the date when it occurs.

“I will speak with the chairman (Geoff Thompson) of the Football Association on that.”

The FA have until now insisted they will stick with their own rules regarding suspensions until the end of the season, which means that any players sent off do not start a ban for a further 14 days and virtually any grounds of appeal are considered.

In the last few weeks, however, FIFA have written to all 204 national associations, telling them to fall in line with a decision agreed at their congress in Doha, which limits the grounds of appeal to cases of mistaken identity and ensures an automatic one-match ban comes into force for the very next game. The Scottish FA already follow these rules.

Blatter added: “Any red card, given for whatever reason, then the player must be suspended for the next match in the same competition, and any appeal must be held before that match.

“If they are not implementing this, the case will be brought to the attention of our disciplinary committee and they will make a decision about the national association not fulfilling a decision of the FIFA Congress and executive committee.

“They can issue a warning and up to a suspension from all international activities and I will call the chief executive (Mark Palios) to speak about this too.”