What did John Terry say to Anton Ferdinand? Incident explained and how to watch Racism and Me documentary on BBC One

Anton Ferdinand is set to speak candidly about his experience of racism in football in a documentary which airs tonight.

‘Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism and Me’, will see the former West Ham United and QPR footballer open up about racism directed at him by Chelsea star John Terry and the subsequent FA investigation into the incident.

The deeply personal documentary will see Ferdinand also open up about the aftermath of the incident and the investigation, reflecting on the online abuse he suffered as a consequence, as well as the impact on his mental health.

Ferdinand will also look at how footballing bodies are still failing players and how the system can change to better protect racially abused players.

When and where can I watch Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism and Me?

Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism and Me will air on BBC One on Monday (November 30) night at 9pm.

The documentary will not be shown on BBC One Scotland.

Following its airing the show will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

What happened between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand?

Terry was accused of calling Ferdinand a “f***ing black c***” during the Premier League match between QPR and Chelsea on October 23, 2011.

Ferdinand did not hear the words at the time, and came off the pitch happy his QPR team had beaten their west London rivals.

However, in his club box after the game he was shown footage of the incident by a family member.

“Rage just came over me,” he recalled.

“You know when they say your blood boils? It just hit me. I couldn’t believe what I was watching.

“I felt hurt but mainly anger towards him, and I wanted to go and hurt him. What has anyone’s race got to do with it? That shouldn’t even enter your mind.”

Terry, who was Chelsea and England captain at the time, denied using the words in an abusive context, and said he was repeating back to Ferdinand what he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.

He was acquitted in the criminal case related to the incident, after it was judged that it could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the words were spoken as abuse.

An independent disciplinary panel found him guilty banning him for four matches and fining him £220,000 in September 2012.

What has John Terry said about the documentary?

In the documentary, Ferdinand sends an email to Terry which gets no reply.

Ferdinand said: “It’s not a situation where I want to bash him for it, I’m over that, I’m past that. It’s bigger than me.”

Terry’s representatives told the programme’s producers that he did reach out to Ferdinand at the time of the incident, and added that he had moved on with his life and did not want to reopen a case on television which was decided in court.

Criticism of the investigation

Ferdinand believes he was treated differently to Terry during the investigation process, and talked about the day he gave his witness statement to the FA.

“They were probing me, probing me. (They) started to make me feel like I was in the wrong and I’d done something wrong,” he said.

“All I know is that I didn’t feel like the victim in that room.”

During the documentary, Ferdinand listens back to a section of Terry’s interview with investigators, where the interviewer jokes that she would not ask Terry about the referee’s performance during the match.

Anton’s cousin Max, who listened to the recording with him, said: “It’s like she (the interviewer) is having a chat with her mate. You came out of (your interview) and said ‘I felt like a criminal’.”

Ferdinand added: “That confirms for me that he got treated differently. Just the sharing of the joke says it all, for me.”

The FA said: “We fully respect Anton’s recollection of the investigation. We appropriately challenged all the evidence and approached the case with objectivity and impartiality, working tirelessly to ensure what was put before the disciplinary panel was robust.”