John Terry has quit the England team, hours before the start of his hearing over the alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand.
Terry
made the decision after becoming convinced that the Football
Association are determined to find him guilty of the offence, with the
hearing due to begin officially in a London hotel on Monday morning.
The
31-year-old said in a statement: ‘I feel the FA, in pursuing charges
against me where I have already been cleared in a court of law, have
made my position with the national team untenable.
‘Representing and captaining my
country is what I dreamed of as a boy and it has been a truly great
honour. I have always given my all and it breaks my heart to make this
decision. I wish Roy and the team every success for the future.’ 
The Chelsea defender’s relationship
with the governing body has deteriorated to such an extent he felt
unable to continue as an England player.
He has felt increasingly isolated by
the FA’s stance in recent weeks and there have been several days of
legal argument that have convinced him his position is untenable.
The John Terry and Anton Ferdinand racism case is due to reach its conclusion this week
It is understood the FA’s failure to
acknowledge their rule 6.8 — which says the outcome and evidence of any
civil or criminal court trial should be regarded as the correct version
of events — was the final straw for Terry.
He had hoped the hearing would be
abandoned on these grounds but, on finding out that it would be
proceeding, decided he could no longer play for England.
Terry was found not guilty in back in
July, which prompted the FA to open their own hearing. Their charge
includes an alleged ‘reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or
race of Ferdinand’ and they only have to prove their case ‘on the
balance of probabilities’ to find him guilty.
Terry attends his court case (above) a month on from playing for England at Euro 2012 (below)
His England career lasted nine years, and he won the first of his 78 caps in a friendly against Hungary in June 2003.
Terry had two separate spells as
captain of the national side. He was first appointed David Beckham’s
successor in 2006 but in 2010 was replaced following the storm around
his alleged affair with team-mate Wayne Bridge’s then girlfriend.
No comments:
Post a Comment