He said Ferdinand was seen by many as a ‘role model’, and the article legitimately contributed to the debate about his suitability for the England captaincy.

The ruling comes amid a climate of creeping privacy laws that has seen a series of high-profile figures use the Human Rights Act to gain injunctions.

Overturning centuries of press freedom, judges have begun routinely gagging the media over well-known figures’ affairs and use of prostitutes.

One judge this year banned newspapers from revealing that disgraced Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin had a long-term affair with a senior colleague during the chaos of the global banking crisis.

Even after that ruling was relaxed on appeal, it remains illegal to reveal his lover’s name.

Ferdinand, 32, brought his privacy case over an April 2010 article in which interior designer Carly Storey gave her account of their 13-year relationship.

Under the headline ‘My affair with England captain Rio’, Miss Storey – who was paid £16,000 for her revelations – told how they had met in 1996, and continued meeting for sex even after he married Rebecca Ellison in June 2009. It was only when Ferdinand was promoted to the England captaincy in February 2010 that he ended the affair.

He was given the captain’s job after John Terry was forced to resign following the failure of his own attempts to use injunctions to keep secret his affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s former girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel.

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