Ferdinand brothers call a truce with anti-racism campaign

Brothers Rio and Anton Ferdinand released a statement expressing disappointment with the football authorities' efforts to tackle racism in the game, but pledging to help find a solution.

Anton was racially abused by John Terry in a match last year and although the Chelsea captain was recently given a four-game ban over the incident, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and Football Association (FA) have been criticised.

Both Manchester United's Rio and Anton of QPR took part in a protest last weekend that saw several high-profile black players refusing to wear anti-racism "Kick It Out" T-shirts before Premier League games.

They claimed the organisation, partly funded by the PFA and the FA, was not doing enough to tackle discrimination.

But the Ferdinands have now vowed to "work … towards the betterment of the game".

The statement read: "It has been a year since the incident (between Anton Ferdinand and Terry) at Loftus Road. During that time, some of the deep divisions that exist in football have been exposed. In the coming months there will be ongoing discussions, we are sure, on finding a way forward.

"We intend to participate in these discussions, along with numerous other current and ex-professionals of all races, from the grass roots upwards, across the football community as a whole."

The statement added: "On the issue of Kick It Out, we would like to go on record to say what fantastic work they have done in the past regarding education and awareness.

"However, times change and organisations need to change with them. We are more than happy to join the discussion, privately, to make Kick it Out more relevant in its fight to stamp out racism in football."

Kick It Out reacted to the Ferdinands' comments with a statement of their own, in which they promised to step up their drive to push racism out of the sport.

It said: "We will continue to work across the campaigning and diversity agenda with all partners to ensure the grievances of players are concluded fairly, thoroughly and swiftly."