Anton Ferdinand is revisiting a 2011 incident which led to former Chelsea and England captain John Terry being found guilty by the Football Association of racially abusing the ex-QPR defender.
The ‘Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me’ documentary will tackle the storm which followed the incident, with Terry found not guilty in a court of law before the FA opted to issue the player a four-game ban and £220,000 fine in September 2012.
Ferdinand will explore the issues of racism in football, touching on his own experience from almost a decade ago, which he says led to bullets in the post and missiles thrown at his mother’s house.
“I beat myself up about not speaking out,” Ferdinand says in the documentary. “Bar a few close friends and family – mum, especially, and dad – everyone else was saying: ‘Don’t say anything, let the lawyers deal with it.'”
How to watch documentary in UK
‘Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism & Me’ will be aired on BBC One on Monday 30 November at 9pm GMT.
The documentary will then be available online using the BBC iPlayer.
How the Ferdinand-Terry story unfolded
In Chelsea’s Premier League match at QPR on 23 October 2011, Terry was alleged to have directed a racist slur towards Ferdinand in the 85th minute.
The pair had been involved in a heated exchange, and Terry was then captured allegedly calling Ferdinand a “f***ng black c***” while walking away.
Footage began to circulate on social media after the match, prompting Terry to release a statement in which he admitted to using the words, but only in response to Ferdinand’s claims he had used the slur.
Terry said: “I’m disappointed that people have leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context of what I was seen to be saying to Anton Ferdinand.
“I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term. I would never say such a thing, and I’m saddened that people would think so.”
In December 2011, Terry was faced with a charge for a racially aggravated public order by the Crown Prosecution Service. The then-England captain again expressed his disappointment.
In a statement, Terry said: “I am disappointed with the decision to charge me and hope to be given the chance to clear my name as quickly as possible.
“I have never aimed a racist remark at anyone and count people from all races and creeds among my closest friends. I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society.”
Court finds Terry not guilty
During the court hearing in July 2012, Ashley Cole was summoned to give evidence, and he backed his then-Chelsea team-mate by claiming Terry was repeating the alleged slur.
“I think we shouldn’t be sitting here,” Cole said. “If I repeated something that I thought you said, that’s totally different than if someone just says something.”
A statement from Jose Mourinho was also read out in court: “I never once witnessed any demonstration of racism or racial abuse or behaviour. I am certain that John Terry is not a racist.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea players including Frank Lampard and Petr Cech signed a prepared statement, saying: “I have never heard John Terry use any form of racist language and have never heard any suggestion that he may have done so.”
Terry was eventually found not guilty. The court concluded that although “there is no doubt that John Terry uttered the words “f***ing black c***” at Anton Ferdinand,” it was deemed “impossible” to know exactly what was said in their exchange before that footage was captured.
The conclusion of senior district judge Howard Riddle ended: “Weighing all the evidence together, I think it is highly unlikely that Mr Ferdinand accused Mr Terry on the pitch of calling him a black c***. However I accept that it is possible that Mr Terry believed at the time, and believes now, that such an accusation was made.
“The prosecution evidence as to what was said by Mr Ferdinand at this point is not strong. Mr Cole gives corroborating (although far from compelling corroborating) evidence on this point. It is therefore possible that what he said was not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him. In those circumstances, there being a doubt, the only verdict the court can record is one of not guilty.”
FA issue ban and fine
Following the court verdict, the Football Association pressed on with their own investigation, prompting Terry to retire from England duty after claiming his position with the national side had become “untenable”.
After a four-day hearing in September 2012, Terry was found guilty by the FA, banned for four matches and fined £220,000.
A statement from Terry’s management company said: “Mr Terry is disappointed that the FA Regulatory Commission has reached a different conclusion to the clear not guilty verdict of a court of law.
“He has asked for the detailed written reasons of the decision and will consider them carefully before deciding whether to lodge an appeal.”
Handshake snub and Rio’s ‘choc ice’ tweet
Almost 12 months after the incident, and just before the FA hearing, Ferdinand refused to shake hands with Terry and Cole when QPR met Chelsea at Loftus Road.
Terry and Cole both offered their hand, and the former could be seen speaking to Ferdinand when the gesture was rejected.
That snub followed a tweet which led to Rio Ferdinand, brother of Anton, being found guilty of improper conduct and fined £45,000 by the FA for replying to a message which called then-Chelsea defender Cole a “choc ice” for his role in defending Terry.
The ex-United defender tweeted: “I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahahaha!!” when responding to a message which said: “Looks like Ashley Cole’s going to be their choc ice. Then again he’s always been a sell out. Shame on him.”
Carlton Cole’s accusations
Ahead of the documentary’s release, former West Ham striker Carlton Cole said in an interview with StoppageTime TV that Terry had admitted the accusations were in fact true, allegedly calling it a “moment of madness”.
A statement from Terry’s lawyers said: “John Terry refutes in the strongest possible terms the allegations that are made against him by Carlton Cole.
“They are false and never happened and Mr Terry has previously been cleared of these allegations in an English court of law.
“Never before has Carlton Cole mentioned this to Mr Terry or raised any issue of this type with him, the FA or the police. The reason for that is because the words were not said.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3odmgps
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