Matt Maher: Uncomfortable discussion that football has to have right now
In a year when the sport might feel it has taken positive steps in tackling discrimination, Anton Ferdinand’s documentary Football, Racism And Me was important television.
Screened on Monday night, it focused on the the high-profile case in 2011 involving John Terry, which ended with the latter being found guilty by the FA of using racially abusive language toward Ferdinand during a match between Chelsea and QPR.
The incident had major implications for both men. Terry was stripped of the England captaincy (which prompted the resignation of then Three Lions boss Fabio Capello) and never represented his country again.
For Ferdinand, the victim, the impact on his life was considerably more profound. Subjected to vile abuse – at one point being sent bullets in the post – and feeling unable to speak out, he only made 10 more Premier League appearances before finishing his career in Turkey, Thailand and the lower leagues. More distressingly, he wonders whether the subsequent fallout was a factor in the premature death of his mother from cancer.
This programme was primarily, therefore, Ferdinand’s attempt to understand precisely what he had gone through nine years ago. In the process, he turned up some awkward questions for the FA.
You have to wonder, for instance, just how much progress it has made, particularly when considering the experiences of former Albion striker Jonathan Leko after he was racially abused by Leeds goalkeeper Kiko Casilla.
Leko’s claim he was made to feel ‘like he had done something wrong’ struck a chord with Ferdinand, who felt he was treated as the suspect, rather than the victim, during an FA interview over the Terry case, a recording of which was not kept.
All told, this was an hour of compelling, uncomfortable yet crucial TV. Yet it did not include Terry, who despite trying to reach out to Ferdinand in the immediate aftermath of the incident, responded through his representatives that he did not wish to ‘reopen a case on television already decided in court’ (Terry was found not guilty of abusing Ferdinand at a criminal trial before being sanctioned by the FA on a lower burden of proof).
In many ways that is understandable, with Ferdinand acknowledging Terry might feel he is in a no-win situation.
But this did not have the feel of a set-up job. Ferdinand was not out for revenge, recognising the incident has now effectively transcended any individual. This was about a wider discussion everyone in society needs to have.
Terry, now hugely respected by Villa’s players in his role as assistant head coach, might have felt most comfortable staying quiet. But it also means he has missed a chance to update his image and properly address an incident which remains part of his story, whether he likes it or not.
