Rio Ferdinand will interview almost anybody for his footballing podcast empire.
But former England team-mate John Terry is strictly off-limits until the ex-Chelsea skipper meets a certain condition.
In 2011, Rio’s brother Anton Ferdinand claimed that Terry had used racially-charged language towards him during a match between QPR and Chelsea at Loftus Road.
That led to a high-profile racism row which saw Terry stripped of the England captaincy, hit with a four-match ban, and fined £220,000 by the Football Association.
As for Anton, he said he was made to feel like he was the guilty party and that he suffered more racial abuse as a result of the saga.
And now Rio says that Terry would have to clear the air with his brother before he would think of inviting him onto his show.
Rio Ferdinand says he would not interview John Terry unless the former Chelsea captain spoke to his brother Anton first
Anton Ferdinand previously said it felt like ‘me versus football’ as he experienced the fall-out of his racial abuse row with John Terry
Ferdinand accused Terry of racially abusing him after a game at Loftus Road in October 2011
Asked if he would interview Terry by The Times, he said: ‘I don’t know.
‘I think he probably needs to speak to my brother before he speaks to me. And he’s not spoken to my brother.’
In an interview earlier this year with ‘How Do You Cope?’, Anton admitted he did not hear it at the time, but video footage led to Terry being alleged to have called Ferdinand a ‘f****** black ****’.
Terry was charged of racial abuse in a criminal law case but was cleared in court. He insisted he had said to Ferdinand: ‘Oi, Anton, do you think I called you a black ****?’
The Chelsea defender was charged for using racist language by the CPS in December 2011 and he pleaded not guilty when his trial started eight months later, before being acquitted.
The FA then charged him for using ‘abusive and/or insulting words or behaviour’ which ‘included a reference to the ethnic origin and or race of Ferdinand’.
The five-time Premier League winner opted not to appeal the decision and subsequently apologised for the ‘language used’.
Anton says he invited Terry to sit down with him and discuss the incident on TV but claims he never got a response.
The former Chelsea captain stood trial in 2012 but was eventually cleared of racial abuse
Terry has always denied the allegations and he was cleared in court after being charged
The relationship between Terry (left) and Anton’s brother Rio (right) turned sour after the alleged racial abuse incident
Ferdinand, who played for QPR between 2011 and 2013, denied that Terry had tried to reach out to him
Terry was stripped of the England captaincy by the FA when he was charged for racist language by the CPS
If Rio could not have Terry on his show, who would he like to get behind the mic?
‘[Lionel] Messi. I’m going through all the channels, talking to Becks [David Beckham],’ he revealed to The Times.
‘He’s such a phenomenal footballer but we don’t know who he is.’
