Ferdinands Release Statement as Terry Affair Rumbles on

25/10/2012

The John Terry race scandal, or whatever you wish to call it, rumbles on and on.

The issue looked to be ready to flair up yet again with Man United and Chelsea set to play Sunday. Although Terry is suspended for that fixture, Ashley Cole, who gave evidence for Terry in his race case, earlier this year, will be in the lineup.

That being the case the Ferdinand brothers have indicated, in order to give the issue some kind of, at least superficial, closure, that they are willing to shake hands with Terry and Cole at a future date.

The brothers also felt it necessary to release the following statement in light of recent events:

It has been a year since the incident at Loftus Road. During that time, some of the deep divisions that exist in football have been exposed. In the coming months there will be ongoing discussions, we are sure, on finding a way forward. We intend to participate in these discussions, along with numerous other current and ex-professionals of all races, from the grass roots upwards, across the football community as a whole.

On the issue of Kick It Out, we would like to go on record to say what fantastic work they have done in the past regarding education and awareness. However, times change and organisations need to change with them. We are more than happy to join the discussion, privately, to make Kick It Out more relevant in its fight to stamp out racism in football.

Although we have been left disappointed by the PFA and the FA's actions over the last year, as a family, we are committed to working with football's existing organisations towards the betterment of the game and to achieve immediate action.

We would like to thank all the fans and the staff at Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United for their support in what has been a difficult year. In particular we want to thank Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes.

We will not be discussing publicly any issues connected with the case. We are now going to concentrate on playing football.

- Rio and Anton Ferdinand