By Andrew Warshaw
July 28 – Two weeks after being cleared of racial abuse in a criminal prosecution, former England captain John Terry was charged by the Football Association (FA) yesterday for virtually the same offence.
The Chelsea skipper, 31, is alleged to have used “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour” towards Anton Ferdinand (pictured below, centre) in last season’s October 23 fixture against Queens Park Rangers.
“It is further alleged that this included a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Ferdinand,” an FA statement said.
Terry (pictured above and below, right) denies the charge and is to request a personal hearing.
In reaching a not guilty verdict earlier this month, chief magistrate Howard Riddle stated it was “possible that what was said was not intended as an insult by Terry but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him”.
The prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Terry had used the words in an insulting manner, which it could not.
But Terry always knew that he was not totally out of the woods.
The FA held back from launching its own investigation only because the case went to trial.
It was always likely that when the trial was complete, the FA would also charge Terry and, ominously for the defender, it only has to prove its case “on the balance of probabilities” – a far lower burden of proof.
Terry, stripped of the England captaincy earlier this year, remains available to play for his country but is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
“This charge is the result of the FA’s long-standing enquiries into this matter, which were placed on hold pending the outcome of the criminal trial, and relates to rules governing football only,” the FA statement said.
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