Anton Ferdinand: Racism victims always face worse consequences than perpetrators

Anton Ferdinand believes the consequences for victims of racism are always worse than they are for a perpetrator, and said clubs “wouldn’t touch him” after the 2011 incident involving John Terry.

The Chelsea defender was caught on camera using the words “f****** black c***” while playing against Ferdinand’s club QPR in a Premier League game in October 2011.

Terry has always denied the words were said with the intention to abuse and said he was repeating back what he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.

Terry was cleared in court over the incident but was later banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the Football Association for using abusive words which included a reference to colour.

Cricketer Azeem Rafiq told the PA news agency on Tuesday he fears he is “unemployable” after he spoke out about the racism and bullying he suffered across two spells at Yorkshire, and Ferdinand believes the same happened to him after the Terry incident.

“When it comes to racism, the victim is always the one who is made to feel like the perpetrator,” Ferdinand told PA at the Include Summit in Birmingham.

“I played 11 years in the Premier League prior (to the Terry incident). I played 13 times in the Premier League after the incident, then never played again.

“I had to go to Turkey because managers that knew me, managers that knew my friends and family, wouldn’t touch me. Not because they didn’t want to touch me, but the club (didn’t).

“The reason why is because whenever that club would play against Chelsea or against John Terry, the club would have to talk about a topic which they didn’t want to speak about – racism.

“And I didn’t speak up at the time, so that’s happening and I’m not even defending myself. I’m being put in a