Date: 18th October 2012 at 9:14pm
Written by:

Blues captain John Terry has decided not to appeal against the Football Association’s disciplinary judgement in relation to language he used during the Queen Park Rangers v Chelsea at Loftus Road last October.

The 31-year-old defender will pay a £220,000 fine as well as serving a four-match suspension, starting with the fixture at White Hart Lane against Tottenham on Saturday. The club stated that they have also conducted their own investigation into the matter and will follow their own disciplinary procedures, but said that they would prefer to keep it private.

As well as missing the game against Spurs, he will miss the Premier League and Carling cup double against Manchester United, and the trip to Swansea.

Terry released an official statement, which read:

“After careful consideration, I have decided not to appeal against the FA judgment.

“I want to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone for the language I used in the game against Queens Park Rangers last October.

“Although I’m disappointed with the FA judgement, I accept that the language I used, regardless of the context, is not acceptable on the football field or indeed in any walk of life.

“As I stated in the criminal case, with the benefit of hindsight my language was clearly not an appropriate reaction to the situation for someone in my position.

“My response was below the level expected by Chelsea Football Club, and by me, and it will not happen again.

“Looking forward, I will continue to do my part in assisting the club to remove all types of discriminatory behaviour from football.

“I am extremely grateful for the consistent support of Chelsea FC, the fans and my family.”

(ChelseaFC.com)

It has been a matter that has taken a whole year to reach a resolution and Terry has apologised for the language used despite the context. Hopefully everyone will now be able to move on from this and similar situations can be prevented in future.

Meanwhile, there has also been disciplinary action taken against Ashley Cole in relation to a tweet in which he referred to the FA as a ‘bunch of t**ts’ after they suggested he had ‘evolved’ his statement regarding the case that was facing Terry.

Cole has been fine £90,000 for his outburst on Twitter which is more than twice the £40,000 Rio Ferdinand was fined for retweeting a message which labelled Cole a ‘choc ice’, which seems disproportionate to me.

 

One response to “Terry accepts FA punishment, Cole fined £90k”

  1. Gary says:

    Why does the FA convict Terry on mere ‘probability’ when a proper court has found him not guilty? Why does the FA not rest with the findings of a proper court? I believe the answer is that the FA has an anti-racism agenda and they want to be seen as taking a stand. The evidence against Terry is so weak that only ‘probability’ could find him guilty. Terry must honestly believe he is not guilty or he would not go to the great lengths he has to clear his name. For a footballer to give up playing for his country to make his point is no small thing. For a national coach to resign over the FA’s treatment of Terry is also no small thing. I personally feel Terry has been used by the FA and that he felt to apologize was the only way to end the saga. I think the FA are the ones damaging football, not Terry.