West Ham United’s Anton Ferdinand believes the swift action taken by The Soccer Tournament (TST) organisers to the incident which led to his team walking from the pitch in their game against Dallas United should be a lesson to football authorities everywhere.
During the 2-0 loss to Dallas United on Thursday, a member of the West Ham team heard a racist term directed at them by an opposition player.
The players made a collective decision to walk off the pitch as a team in support of our player.
Dallas United subsequently withdrew from the tournament and Ferdinand was full of praise for the support offered by the Club and the decisive action taken by the organisers.
“I didn’t expect anything less from West Ham as a Club,” Ferdinand, who made 163 appearances in Claret and Blue between 2003-08, said. “The topic of conversation that was laid bare yesterday was bigger than football. The way that TST dealt with it, so swiftly and with no nonsense action, a lot of people and organisations around the world can take note.
“Again, West Ham United, the support they’ve given us as a team and as a squad, not just to us but to the staff here with us, has been second to none.
“The team as a whole, the squad as a whole and the Club as a whole have used their voice in the best way and that’s why I’m proud, with my chest out and with this badge on me because we dealt with it in the right way, along with TST.
“We have to remember this isn’t just a football issue, this is a societal issue that needs addressing and if more people address it the way TST addressed it, the world would be a better place.
“We won’t stop fighting. The message is it’s not just ethnic minority peoples’ fight, it’s everybody’s fight. You need to speak about it the same way I speak about it, the same way my teammates speak about it.
“I think everybody needs to come together and fight as a collective. It’s hard, but football can be the catalyst for change in society, but society has to want to change with it.”
Two defeats on Thursday meant the Hammers’ challenge in the $1m 7v7 event in Cary, North Carolina came to an end on Friday, despite a thrilling 4-3 victory over Culture by Mo Ali FC in the group finale.
Ferdinand was happy to get back on the pitch and give the vociferous Hammers support Stateside something to cheer.
“The support kept us going today and it shows no matter where we go in the world, we will always run into West Ham fans,” Ferdinand added. “In my opinion they’re the best in the world.
“What we’ve done today, regardless of whether we went through or not, is that we put a performance in. Not just for ourselves, or our family watching back home, but for the US West Ham fans and the British West Ham fans who have travelled here.
“We put in a great shift for them today and it was only right that we showed resilience. We had to show resilience and togetherness yesterday and we’ve dealt with it off the pitch and now we’ve dealt with it on the pitch. There’s no bigger statement than that.
“I loved hearing American fans singing Bubbles and it tells you everything about this football club.”
It was a sentiment echoed by teammate Matt Jarvis, who also had praise for the togetherness and camaraderie shown by the Hammers, from players, to staff and supporters.
“Before we even started the game it showed the togetherness of our team,” the winger stated. “The coaching staff, everybody who was here with us. It shows what an amazing group of lads we have with the team together.
“You could see the performance we put in at the end. You turn around and say ‘fresh legs’ and see no one is available, yet they still go out and perform like that. It just sums up our dressing room.
“Special mention to [Culture by] Mo [Ali FC] as well. They were brilliant and joined us in taking the knee. Even afterwards, they handled everything really well.”
WE ARE MASSIVE ⚒️⚒️💜 https://t.co/IbzD8gxtS8
— ANTON FERDINAND (@anton_ferdinand) June 2, 2023
