Blowing the whistle

Anton Ferdinand tackles football’s racism problem

In 2011, Queens Park Rangers footballer Anton Ferdinand was involved in an incident during a Premier League game that resulted in Chelsea and England player John Terry being banned and fined by the FA for racial abuse.

Now, with reported incidents of racial abuse in football on the rise, Ferdinand – whose brother Rio and cousin Les also had successful football careers, – talks for the first time about his experience in a new BBC1 documentary.

Here, the 35-year-old, who most recently played for Scottish Premiership side St Mirren, explains how important it was to share his story...

Why did you want to make this documentary?