Ferdinand and team-mate Patrice Evra were booed almost every time they touched the ball at Stamford Bridge yesterday, with some drawing a link between their treatment and the race rows that have erupted in English football this season. Ferdinand's brother Anton was the alleged victim of a racist slur from Chelsea captain John Terry, who last week pleaded not guilty to the offence ahead of an upcoming trial over the matter.
Evra, meanwhile, was racially abused by Luis Suarez back in October, something that saw the Liverpool striker banned for eight matches. Ferdinand shrugged off the booing, tweeting: "I got booed by the cfc fans today,....well done guys thanks for inspiring me & the lads! That's like fuel to me!"
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas meanwhile said that while fans were wrong to jeer, the players making too much of it would do more harm than good. ""You don't expect opposing fans to cheer your players," the Portuguese manager said after the 3-3 draw. "This is a normal situation in the Premier League. "You have to condemn it when there is discriminatory, aggressive behaviour. We know the situations. We know we have to play a part.
"If we want to push on this sequence of events to extend in the future, it's up to us. It's up to me and it's up to you in the press. "If you want to give importance to situations like this, if you let people take responsibility, assume responsibility and the fans and the knowledge that maybe what they were doing makes no sense, it's better but to try to prevaricate isn't right."