Former West Ham United players Frank Nouble and Anton Ferdinand have spoken out following racist abuse suffered by Nouble at The Soccer Tournament (TST).
Nouble and Ferdinand were both part of a West Ham squad competing at TST in a seven-a-side competition in Cary, North Carolina, with the winning side pocketing a prize pot of $1million (£803,000).
Playing in the second of their three group matches against Dallas United in the early hours of Friday morning, West Ham's players walked off the pitch in the closing stages of their group match following racial abuse targeted at Nouble during their group match.
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As a result of the incident, Nouble and the rest of the West Ham squad, managed by television personality Tom Skinner and head of academy Kenny Brown, walked off the pitch, while Dallas United withdrew from the tournament.
Speaking out after the incident, Nouble said he was grateful to support shown to him by his colleagues in the West Ham squad.
"Representing this football club means everything to me," Nouble tweeted.
"How we conducted ourselves after the racial incident that happened to me. Couldn’t of wished to be with anyone else, my family of players and staff."
Ferdinand has also spoken out on what happened in that game over the weekend, praising the swift actions of his teammates and the organisers of TST.
The former centre-back said he did not expect anything less from those representing West Ham in the way they conducted themselves.
"I didn’t expect anything less from West Ham as a club," Ferdinand told West Ham’s club website. "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."
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