England central defender John Terry has hung up his international boots ahead of his FA hearing for using racist language.
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Terry has had a glittering international career despite never winning a major trophy with England, something he certainly would have been hoping to achieve. That doesn’t change how important he has been to the England set up during his 78 caps, be it as a senior influence on the training ground or one of the best defender’s in England.
Terry is accused of directing racist comments towards QPR’s Anton Ferdinand during their game at Loftus Road last year. The incident sparked myriad complaints and counter accusations and has marred Terry’s career since.
It even had connotations for Anton’s brother Rio Ferdinand who was left out of the England squad for Euro 2012 for ‘footballing reasons’, which many suspected were to continue harmony in the camp to avoid a split in the squad during the competition, like what happened in South Africa.
Incidentally, Terry was also a key player in the South Africa rift between squad and manager, using a press conference to attempt a coup against manager Fabio Capello. This stunt, which could have been to do with the fact that Terry lost the captaincy of the team months earlier, failed and left Terry with egg on his face.
Rio Ferdinand did his best to make matters worse, by directing racist slang at Ashley Cole, who testified as a character witness for Terry during his trial at Westminster Magistrates Court.
In this trial, Terry was cleared from all charges as it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt that racist comments had been used aggressively. Terry’s defence was that he was repeating the words that were said to him in confusion, a fact which could not be proved or disproved.
The reason he is still subject to an FA hearing is because as far as their hearings are concerned, he only needs to be guilty ‘on the balance of probabilities’, meaning it is likely he will be found guilty. Maybe his decision to retire from the England squad is pre-empting what he’s expecting to happen. Anton Ferdinand is still clearly upset about Terry being cleared in criminal court as he refused to shake hands with the Chelsea captain in their match last weekend.
Terry has said in a statement that The FA’s decision to pursue charges against him has made his position in the England set up untenable. This statement sends a clear message to the FA – that Terry thinks this is all a Witch hunt. And he’s got a point, Terry was cleared of any charges in a criminal court which should have been the end of the matter, the fact he is still subject to a hearing means the FA must feel he is guilty, which prejudices the outcome.
While Roy Hodgson has begrudgingly accepted Terry’s decision, former Chelsea boss Avram Grant has said that Terry was cleared in court so the FA need to leave it, reiterating that he does not believe that Terry is a racist.
