Rio Ferdinand backs George Nkencho’s family after hiring ‘inspirational’ brother

Emmanuel Nkencho was recently hired as an Irish youth ambassador for the Rio Ferdinand Foundation and the star footballer got to know him well.

Emmanuel says he was plunged into “a very, very deep, dark place” after his 27-year-old brother George was shot multiple times by officers in a stand-off outside his west Dublin home on December 30, 2020.

Dubliner Emmanuel Nkencho unveiled as a youth embassador by the Rio Ferdinand Foundation

George’s relatives are planning to stage a protest outside the Department of Justice today after the DPP recently ruled no charges will be brought against the gardaí involved in the fatal shooting.

But as the family seeks answers over the tragedy, his younger sibling Emmanuel, now 23, is trying to ease the pain by remembering George through footie.

And the young man has impressed Ferdinand, who praised his foundation’s new youth ambassador after learning about Emmanuel’s story.

The ex-footballer said: “I see character, I see strength, I see a resilience. And I see someone who can inspire other people.

“He has got a story… he has had a tough road, but the ability to rebuild yourself and come back shows the character he has.

"That’s big stuff, man.

“And they’re the type of people that you need around young ­people, especially the kids we’re getting from disadvantaged ­backgrounds who have trodden a similar path, who are going through their own trials and tribulations that need to see someone.”

Overjoyed Emmanuel told how he was “blessed” to score the youth ambassador role at the Rio Ferdinand Foundation.

He said: “I’m looking to just be the best version of myself, help whoever I can help along the way.”

Emmanuel also opened up in a video about how the foundation helped him after George’s death.

He said: “I was in a very, very deep, dark place. I have suffered depression, I’ve gone through all the emotions that you can think of.

“So I was in a place where I felt I was stuck, confused. I didn’t know which way to go or what path to take.”

Former Manchester United and England defender Rio, 45, has devoted much of his retirement working to tackle racism and a lack of social mobility through his foundation.

He said of Emmanuel: “This guy is going through the layers of the foundation. He has come in and he is actually a great example to all the young people.

“He is currently on that march, he is marching through the levels and now he is coming on as one of our young ambassadors, paid young ambassadors who is going to be the beacon of light for the other ones coming underneath. He is the example, man.”