I said this in the thread talking about science coverage in the press, but with print sales in terminal decline a lot of the papers are chasing online ad revenue, and are chasing it by encouraging sensationalist stories just like this to goad people into reading. It makes for bloody awful journalism. Sites like the Mail, the Guardian and the Telegraph are now amongst the most popular 'news' sites in the world but the journalism on offer is often terrible.
Frankly it's hard for anyone to say with certainty why Ferdinand wasn't called up to replace Cahill so any guesses are just that. You'd assume though that Kelly being on the reserve list, along with Jags, would have played a big part. Hardly worth having a reserve list if you're going to select players from outside it that haven't been training with the squad, especially as most players go on holiday straight after the season ends. It still baffles me why Kelly was on that list over Richards, but on it he was so I'm not surprised he was called up when a defender dropped out.
Hard to believe race has played any part in things though given that there are 8 black players in the squad. Given how black folks suffered at the hands of mob 'justice' in the past, you'd think he'd be a bit more supportive of the concept of innocent until proven guilty as well. John Terry may well be a complete toad, but until proven so we have to assume he's not.