John Terry fights for reputation at FA hearing
25 Sep 2012 2:18 AM GMT
Controversial former England captain John Terry faced a Football Association disciplinary hearing over racism charges on Monday, despite being cleared in a criminal case.
The start of the hearing into whether he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand in October, came a day after Terry dramatically quit international football by announcing his retirement in protest at his treatment by the FA.
Chelsea skipper Terry, who is to continue playing for the European champions, said Sunday that the FA had made his position ‘untenable’ after he had already been cleared of criminal charges emanating from the controversy.
‘I feel the FA, in pursuing charges against me where I have already been cleared in a court of law, have made my position with the national team untenable,’ he said in a statement. ‘I now look forward to playing for Chelsea FC and challenging for domestic and European honours and I want to thank the fans and the club for their continued support.’
But FA general secretary Alex Horne, in the governing body’s first response to Terry’s England retirement, told Sky Sports on Monday: ‘It’s a personal decision. I don’t see how we’ve made it untenable, they’re two very separate processes.
‘That’s a very different process from our England procedures, they sit in different compartments and I could separate the two in my mind, but it doesn’t look like he could.’ However, the FA are likely to insist their charge is distinct from the racially-aggravated public order offence.
Terry admitted in court that he used the racial slur against Ferdinand but only in a denial after he believed Ferdinand had accused him of using those words.
The start of the hearing into whether he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand in October, came a day after Terry dramatically quit international football by announcing his retirement in protest at his treatment by the FA.
Chelsea skipper Terry, who is to continue playing for the European champions, said Sunday that the FA had made his position ‘untenable’ after he had already been cleared of criminal charges emanating from the controversy.
‘I feel the FA, in pursuing charges against me where I have already been cleared in a court of law, have made my position with the national team untenable,’ he said in a statement. ‘I now look forward to playing for Chelsea FC and challenging for domestic and European honours and I want to thank the fans and the club for their continued support.’
But FA general secretary Alex Horne, in the governing body’s first response to Terry’s England retirement, told Sky Sports on Monday: ‘It’s a personal decision. I don’t see how we’ve made it untenable, they’re two very separate processes.
‘That’s a very different process from our England procedures, they sit in different compartments and I could separate the two in my mind, but it doesn’t look like he could.’ However, the FA are likely to insist their charge is distinct from the racially-aggravated public order offence.
Terry admitted in court that he used the racial slur against Ferdinand but only in a denial after he believed Ferdinand had accused him of using those words.
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