IF a player was to walk off the pitch in protest to racist abuse would that mean the culprits have won or would such an action send out a decisive message that racism will not be tolerated?

The Let's Kick Racism Out of Football" campaign has sounded out and listened to the views of professional footballers concerning the problem of racist abuse aimed at black players during matches this season.

The possibility of boycotting European fixtures - where a number of problems have been reported this season by English clubs playing in UEFA competitions overseas - could be one means of tackling the problem, while the prospect of simply leaving the field has been mooted.

But Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand feels any such action would be self-defeating.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live, "I don't agree with walking off the pitch. I think then you are letting them think they have won and you are taking the enjoyment away from people who have paid good money to go and watch the game and from the people who pay our wages."

Piara Powar, the national co-ordinator of the Kick It Out campaign, could see where such sentiments were coming from but said, "I'm not sure I agree with that. There is a powerful argument to say that if players were to act in that way it sends out a decisive message.

"Players walking off the pitch is one part of the debate, as is players saying to their manager if they are expecting a problem, look, this might be a difficult game, I don't want to be subjected to it, I don't want to play in this particular game'.

"If you look at it from another perspective, would we want to go into work if someone in our office or workplace was abusing us in some way or another?"

Ferdinand's comments come as part of a survey of players, clubs and officials by BBC Radio 5 Live into the problem of racism in the domestic game.

The survey revealed that only 122 fans over five years were banned by clubs after they were reported for racist chanting.

Powar added, "The primary responsibility for tackling this is with the clubs and the police. Clubs are saying they're only evicting 122 fans over five years and there are very, very low statistics in terms of police arrests with 46 made over the same time, while less than half of those arrested went on to be prosecuted.

"If we are looking at things holistically, we know that there are more than 46 arrestable offences being committed and more than 122 fans involved in racist chanting.

"Another problem we have is the lack of people involved in the game in a non-playing capacity. We need to make clubs and the Football Association and Football League aware that there are talented administrators out there from a diverse background.

"When the new FA chief executive post was being discussed, why not mention any of the capable black names like Garth Crooks or Brendon Batson?

"They have qualities and qualifications which are as potent as any candidate. We need a sense that the game is coming to terms with its diversity and isn't presenting a front which is purely white and middle-class."