By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – England defender Ashley Cole has been charged by the Football Association (FA) following comments he made on Twitter.
Cole used an abusive term against the FA after his reliability was questioned in the 63-page report detailing why an independent panel found John Terry, his Chelsea and England teammate, guilty of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand.
“Chelsea FC’s Ashley Cole has been charged by the FA in relation to a Twitter comment which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute,” read a statement posted on the governing body’s website.
Cole, who apologised within minutes of his gaffe and deleted the relevant remark, has until Thursday (October 11) to respond to the charge.
Terry was banned for four games and fined £220,000 ($353,000/€272,000) despite previously being cleared in court.
The burden of proof required in the criminal case was higher than the “balance of probabilities” available to the independent inquiry.
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