Rio Ferdinand fears a footballer could be stabbed in a Monica Seles-style situation unless there is a severe crackdown on the rise of anti-social behaviour in the game - but despairs that calls for points deductions are not touted in incidents of racist abuse.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport following the attacks on Jack Grealish and Chris Smalling over the weekend that shamed football, Ferdinand believes players’ lives could be at risk if the sport’s authorities fail to adopt a hard line against such thuggery, including points deductions.

But the former Manchester United and England defender also claimed that attitudes towards racism in the country were reflected by the calls for more severe punishments in the Grealish case than alleged incidents of racist abuse against Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this season.

And Ferdinand believes it is time a prominent white footballer finally took a public stand against racism after claiming racists were unlikely to pay any attention to what a black player had to say about discrimination.

Citing the case of Seles, the former tennis player who was stabbed on court in 1993, Ferdinand expressed concerns that football could experience a similar incident and condemned the 14-week prison sentence handed to Paul Mitchell, the Birmingham fan who ran on to the pitch and punched the Aston Villa captain Grealish during Sunday’s Midlands derby.