Younger brother to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, Anton Ferdinand, believes England should be barred from hosting another major football tournament until racist abuse and social disorder problems can be eradicated from the game.
England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy on Sunday was marred by scores of ticketless fans trying to break into Wembley.
While the defeat to Italy saw the trio of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all subjected to racist abuse on social media.
Ugly scenes in London’s Leicester Square and at Wembley before and after the penalty shoot-out defeat will also have damaged the nation’s chances of hosting the 2030 World Cup.
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And former West Ham and QPR defender Ferdinand has admitted the country should be thwarted in their bid unless the off-field problems can be tackled.
Asked if England should be denied host status until the wider issues are solved, Ferdinand said: “Yes, there should be consequences, there definitely should be consequences.
“That’s how people learn, but you’ve got to be willing to learn, that’s the problem. You’ve got to be willing to understand and be open-minded on what it is, especially when talking about the discrimination side of things.
“A lot of people who shout obscenities and things like that, they will never know what it’s like to be racially abused, racially profiled, but what they can do is try to understand it.
“We’re in a different generation now, what we’re seeing is a multi-cultural stance. It’s no longer just ethnic minorities speaking about this. So it’s time for these bigots and these uneducated fools to get in tune with today’s society.
“And for people who know it’s wrong and don’t want to speak out about it and check these people, you’re also part of the problem. To combat this and try to eradicate it, everyone needs to speak about it, not just the people on the receiving end.”
Meanwhile, more than 830,000 people have signed a petition calling for people who racially abuse footballers to be banned from grounds for life.
1 Comment
With all these racist abuses in European countries, black players will still be choosing to play for them, even when called by African countries. When u play for European countries,u must not make mistakes,else u will be regarded as a monkey. All black players are aware of it, that’s why I don’t feel sorry for them.