Chelsea defender and former England captain John Terry did racially abuse QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, a Football Association disciplinary hearing has found.
Terry was accused of racially abusing Ferdinand in a Premier League match at QPR’s Loftus Road ground in October last year. A trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July this year found Terry not guilty of racial abuse.
However, the Independent Regulatory Commission of the FA has today contradicted the view of the court. Following Terry’s trial the FA charged the defender with “using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour … which included a reference to colour and/or race.”
As a result of today’s ruling Terry has been given a four match ban and fined £220,000. Terry is the highest paid defender in the English Premier League, and the fine is equivalent to less than two weeks salary.
In response to the decision, Terry’s agent, Elite Management, released the following statement: “Mr Terry is disappointed that the FA Regulatory Commission has reached a different conclusion to the clear not guilty verdict of a court of law.
FA rules on abusive behaviour and discrimination
E.3 (1): A participant shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.
E.4: A participant shall not carry out any act of discrimination by reason of ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
“He has asked for the detailed written reasons of the decision and will consider them carefully before deciding whether to lodge an appeal.”
At the trial in July, Terry was acquitted of calling Ferdinand a “f****** black c***”. His defence was that he had repeated the words back to Ferdinand in “sarcastic exclamation”.
The FA said the decision was the result of a “long-standing investigation into this matter”. The hearing had been put on hold to await the outcome of Terry’s trial.
Terry now has 14 days to lodge an appeal against the decision. The penalties will not be applied until the outcome of any appeal or until after the appeal period has expired.