Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has said that he was racially abused during Wolverhampton Wanderers' loss to Manchester United.
Ferdinand was on punditry duty for BT Sport alongside Joe Cole, and tweeted that he was subjected to racial abuse that resulted in a fan being ejected from the ground.
The last couple weeks, it’s been unreal to see fans back. However
To the Wolves fan who has just been thrown out for doing a monkey chant at me. You need to be dismissed from football & educated. Come meet me & I will help you understand what it feels like to be racially abused!— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) May 23, 2021
Rio Ferdinand
Meanwhile, Chelsea captain John Terry has claimed that he reached out to both Rio Ferdinand and his brother Anton after allegations of racist abuse in 2011.
During a Premier League game between Chelsea and Queen's Park Rangers in October 2011, Terry was accused of calling Anton Ferdinand a "f****** black c***."
The former England international was hit with a four-game ban and £220,000 fine by the FA for his behaviour.
In a recent documentary, Football, Racism & Me, Anton Ferdinand revisited the incident and explained that John Terry opted not to take up his offer of explaining his actions on film.
"It’s disappointing to read and hear that I’ve never reached out," remarked Terry in an interview with The Times. "I tried to phone Rio and Anton on numerous occasions, literally the same night [as the game], the day after and that week after the incident.
"Then about three, four years ago I see Rio on the beach in Dubai, so I approached him and said, ‘Have you got five minutes? I’d like to talk to you.’
"He was like, ‘I don’t want to talk to you, JT.’ I was prepared to address the issue."
"In the lead-up to the programme my legal team had contact with the producers with the view to communicate but they were very evasive with the content and what they were trying to achieve.
"It was a lot bigger than it should have been for me. We could have dealt with the issue. I was very keen to get that done."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
