Sir Alex Ferguson called for the Football Association to take more action to tackle racism in the sport.
The Manchester United manager praised the players union, the PFA, for the work they put in to tackle the issue, but he added that more involvement is needed from The FA, UEFA and FIFA "without question" to take the issue forward.
He also praised the Ferdinand brothers for speaking out for the first time since boycotting the Kick It Out campaign last week.
In a statement Rio and Anton Ferdinand congratulated the PFA for the "fantastic work they have done" to promote education and awareness.
"However, times change and organisations need to change with them," the statement continued. "We are more than happy to join the discussion, privately, to make Kick It Out more relevant in its fight to stamp out racism in football".
The Manchester United midfielder and the QPR defender were one of the first in the string of footballers who refused to wear the Kick It Out T-shirt at the weekend., claiming the issue of racism was not being addressed properly.
Ferguson said he had been embarrassed after Rio's decision ahead of last Saturday's match against Stoke. He then explained that the row had been a "communication problem " which had been resolved.
