Rio Ferdinand only sparked "two complaints" to Ofcom over a homophobic slur he made in a past radio interview.
Rio Ferdinand only got 'two complaints' to Ofcom over a homophobic slur he made in a past radio interview
The 45-year-old former football star appears alongside Rylan Clark, 35, to discuss homophobia in the sport in new documentary ‘Rylan: Homophobia, Football and Me’.
The two reflected on an incident where Rio used a slur while talking to Chris Moyles on BBC Radio One in 2006.
In quotes from the documentary published by the Daily Mirror, Rylan asked: “It got you in a little bit of hot water?”, to which the ‘Match of the Day’ presenter replied: “It didn’t at the time.
"I think Ofcom only got two complaints. That was the way the changing room and we were. It was brutal.
“If you were to jump back in time and be in that changing room, the language used then would [now] be getting people cancelled left, right and centre. It was seen as normal.”
The former Manchester United defender admitted he was “embarrassed” for the language he used and culture he was surrounded by, and insisted it was “very wrong”.
He said: “I’ve been fortunate because my sister is gay.
“I made her listen to [the Radio 1 clip] and I was embarrassed.
“I’ll do everything I can to make her feel comfortable and acknowledge I was part of a culture that was very wrong, and actually society wasn’t where it is today.”
Rylan then quizzed Rio as to why there were very few openly gay players in the Premier League, like Aslie Pitter, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Jake Daniels, to which the sportsman emphasised that there still isn’t a sufficient support system for them.
He said: “I don’t think football has put together the infrastructure for a safe space for a person to come out.
“There’s a lot of uncontrollable like fans, social media, forums, where it’s inevitable that they’ll get hammered by people.”
During the documentary, Rylan revealed he struggled with homophobia in football, and felt pushed out of the Junior Hammers club for West Ham United as a child due to his sexuality.
The 'This Morning' presenter admitted he stopped attending matches due to the homophobic comments he faced.
He said: "Growing up loving football and being a West Ham fan, I always assumed I'd be able to go to games whenever I wanted as I got older.
"But as times moved on, and as a gay man, I sometimes felt uncomfortable around spectators at games.
"I'm not easily offended, but some of the language and insults that are used on a daily basis by football crowds made going to games almost impossible, especially as I got more and more known and started having them directed at me. "
Tagged in Chris Moyles Rio Ferdinand Rylan Clark