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Ferdinand speaks out on Terry racism probe

Comment: 0 November 1st, 2011 by: admin

Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand stated that he had ‘strong feelings’ regarding the Football Association’s probe on the racism issue involving Chelsea captain John Terry.

On what he said was to be his final comment on the matter, Ferdinand expressed that he has ‘very strong feelings’ regarding the issue, and the upcoming investigation of the Football Association.

According to the defender, his decision to limit his statements is to curb possible prejudices that may arise otherwise.

‘Today finalised my statement with the Football Association with regards to the incident that occurred last Sunday at Loftus Road in our Barclay’s Premier League fixture against Chelsea,’ Ferdinand began.

‘I have very strong feelings on the matter,’ he admitted. ‘But in the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough enquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the enquiry is concluded.’

The defender, who has filed a petition for the FA to investigate allegations of racist comments launched against him by Terry, continued to acknowledge the support from QPR.

‘I would like to thank the club, [QPR owner]Tony Fernandes, [club vice-chairman] Amit Bhatia, [manager] Neil Warnock, the supporters, and my fellow professionals for their unwavering support.’

Ferdinand’s relatively passive demeanour during the highly publicised scandal has received admiration and praise from supporters, most recently from fellow teammate Jay Bothroyd.

According to the striker, Ferdinand and the rest of the squad have demonstrated an admirable level of professionalism throughout the issue.

‘Anton has been top class,’ Bothroyd told reports from The Times. ‘What happened last week was a bit of a downer but if he dwells on that, he will do a disservice to himself.

‘He can’t dwell on that negativity, he just needs to go out there and play as well as he can do.’

On the other side, Terry has remained adamant regarding the accusations, despite a video that suggested him seemingly making racist remarks aimed at Ferdinand. The Blues captain insisted that the clip was of him asking Ferdinand if he was accusing him of making racist remarks.

Terry added that he had approached Ferdinand after the match and stated that the matter between them had been settled.

‘I would never say such a thing and I’m saddened that people would think so,’ said Terry in a statement.  ‘I have known Anton for a long time and spoke to him about it after the game and there was no problem between us.’

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