FA to investigate Terry over alleged racist remark

THE ENGLISH Football Association has been forced into the embarrassing position of having to investigate the conduct of the England captain, John Terry, after a complaint was lodged with the authorities over an alleged racist remark made during Sunday’s west London derby.

Video footage has circulated on the internet of an incident towards the end of that game which, it has been alleged, appears to show Terry directing a racist comment towards the QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. The Rangers manager Neil Warnock, club officials, Ferdinand and his representative met at the club’s training ground yesterday to discuss how to respond to the furore, with the club duly lodging a complaint with the FA last night. The Rangers owner, Tony Fernandes, said the club would “provide our players with our unequivocal support when alleged incidents like this occur”.

Terry, who has claimed he was responding to what he had thought were accusations from the opposing centre-back, has received the full backing of Chelsea and issued a statement last night welcoming the FA inquiry as an opportunity to “clear my name”. He and Ferdinand may yet be interviewed by police, who are investigating whether any charges should be brought after receiving a complaint from a member of the public on Monday.

There had been dialogue between the respective clubs at chief-executive level since the game regarding the incident, with Chelsea hoping Terry’s explanation that this had been a “misunderstanding” would be accepted.

However, QPR have now opted to ask the FA to investigate. “We take seriously any allegations of discrimination and abuse of this type,” said a spokesman for the governing body, which is still investigating an allegation that the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra was subjected to racist abuse by Liverpool’s Luis Suarez at Anfield this month.

Should Terry be found guilty, the incident would have huge implications for his future as England captain. “I welcome the FA inquiry and look forward to clearing my name as soon as possible,” he said.

Terry is understood to have spoken at length with Ferdinand in the dressingrooms post-match at Loftus Road, a meeting that was witnessed by Andre Villas-Boas, though it is now clear that the issue was not resolved.

“They seemed amicable,” said the Chelsea manager. “We fully back John, a player who represents this country to the highest level internationally. He is confident about it – he spoke to Anton after the game and, for us, it’s a great misunderstanding. End of story. Players respect each other.

“John Terry represents this country internationally and people who do that should have better and fuller support instead of stories based on speculation. How can such a small incident based on speculation arrive to a situation of such proportions with the England captain? It’s something which surprises me. (In Portugal) we will always try to protect people who represent the country to the fullest extent. Not that that’s not the case over here, but it’s too speculative to be going against John.”

Ferdinand was offered the chance to agree with Terry’s account of their verbal clash at the weekend and chose not to, neither accusing the England captain of racism nor supporting Chelsea’s argument that it was all a “misunderstanding” and is now water under the (Stamford) Bridge.

By passing the case on to the FA, QPR kept this potentially grave incident very much alive. The impetus comes from them, not Ferdinand, who was claimed by some close to the case to have been oblivious to Terry’s alleged remarks until the Chelsea captain approached him to discuss it in the tunnel after the match. The suggestion is that Ferdinand’s concern developed only after he heard about it on the radio and saw the fuss on social media sites.

GuardianService