LONDON: England captain John Terry is being investigated by The Football Association and police over allegations he racially abused Queens Park Rangers’ Ferdinand while playing for Chelsea.
Terry was accused of directing a racial slur at Queens defender Anton Ferdinand during Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League loss, and footage of the incident has spread on the internet.
The FA also charged Chelsea on Tuesday for the behaviour of its players during their weekend defeat to Queens Park Rangers in which two players from the team were sent off.
The governing body has also written to manager Andre Villas-Boas to demand an explanation of his post-match comments about referee Chris Foy.
The Chelsea boss was highly critical of Foy who dismissed right back Jose Bosingwa and striker Didier Drogba in the first half of their shock 1-0 defeat to their west London neighbours on Sunday.
Meanwhile, it is the latest incident to blight Terry’s scandal-plagued career, coming just seven months before he is due to lead England at the European Championship. The center back only regained the England captaincy in March – from Ferdinand’s brother Rio – after being forgiven for a sex scandal by coach Fabio Capello ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
The result of the investigation launched by the FA on Tuesday evening could again throw into question his suitability as England captain. “The FA can confirm it has received a complaint relating to an alleged incident of racist abuse in the QPR versus Chelsea fixture,” English football’s governing body said in a statement. “The FA will now begin to make enquiries into this matter. The FA takes seriously any allegations of discrimination and abuse of this type.”
A separate investigation was launched at Scotland Yard. “We can confirm that police have been notified of an incident… involving alleged racial abuse,” the London police force said. “This is currently being assessed by officers.”
The 30-year-old Terry said the alleged comments directed at Ferdinand – who is black – were taken out of context by social media users who spread the video on Sunday night.
“I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him,” he said after the match. “I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term.”
After the FA investigation was opened, Terry released another statement saying: “I welcome the FA enquiry and look forward to clearing my name as soon as possible.”
QPR, which is back in the Premier League after 15 years, spent two days assessing the incident with Ferdinand before deciding to submit a complaint to the FA against its west London rival. The incident happened during English football’s anti-racism week, which highlights the progress made since abuse marred the game in the 1970s. (Agencies)