Date: 27th September 2012 at 7:34pm
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John Terry has been found guilty of racially abusing in an FA hearing and has been fined £220,000 as well as receiving a four-match suspension, despite being found being cleared of a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates Court in the summer.

The Chelsea captain was found guilty of “abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour, which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race” towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match at Loftus Road last October.

Terry has 14 days to respond to the verdict following receipt of the full written judgement, so his four-match ban is suspended in the meantime. The 31-year-old is said to be upset that the FA came to a different decision to the criminal trial over the summer and will consider the written judgement before deciding if he will appeal.

Chelsea released a statement saying that they respect the conclusion of the independent FA tribunal at Wembley as well as Terry’s right to appeal the judgement passed, but wisely said that it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time (take note, Liverpool. No dodgy t-shirts or PR disasters at this club).

If Terry’s appeal is unsuccessful, the decision of the FA is one that we must accept and the sooner everyone can move on from this the better. I’m not going to pretend to know what happened on that day, like many that have given their two penneth worth on the subject, but the sheer amount of time it has taken to get to this point (and it’s still not over) is nothing short of a joke and it shouldn’t have been allowed to.

Terry’s ban could not come at a worse time for Chelsea as he will likely miss the Premier League clashes against Tottenham and Manchester United, as well as a Capital One Clash against the latter just three days after we play them at Stamford Bridge at the end of October.

 

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