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Rio and Anton Ferdinand have released a statement outlining their disappointment with both the FA and the PFA over how the John Terry race row was dealt with.

Terry received what was seen in some quarters as very lenient punishment for alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand in QPR’s Premier League clash with Chelsea last year, an incident which has had a vitriolic fall out since.

The two Ferdinand brothers were one of a number of Premier League footballers not to wear the ‘Kick it Out’ t-shirts at the weekend in protest at the supposed lack of action being taken over issues to do with racism in football, with Rio coming in for criticism from Alex Ferguson for doing so, although Fergie’s stance would appear to have softened in the days since.

Amid talks that a number of black players were to form a breakaway players’ union, the Ferdinand brothers released a joint statement this evening revealing their disappointment with how the Terry case was dealt with, but also indicated that they would be willing to be part of a discussion to enhance the impact of the ‘Kick it Out’ campaign in football.

The statement is a bit long to be included in full here but one line that says that the “deep divisions that exist in football have been exposed” is perhaps an insight into the fact that the problems were far deeper than the public were aware of, although the level of spotlight on the issue of racism in football in recent weeks should hopefully mean that it is cleaned up in a big way in the future.

If you wish to read Rio and Anton’s statement in full you can do so here.