John Terry is in court this week, facing trail for allegations he verbally attacked Anton Ferdinand during the 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road last season.
Luiz Suarez was found guilty of a similar matter last season on Patrice Evra, and served an 8 match ban, but we are told that should Terry be found guilty, he would receive a fine of up to £2,500 for his actions. The main difference being that John Terry’s insult comes under the term “racially aggravated comment” and not a full blown racist slur, such as Suarez’s incident
We are likely to find out the verdict on Friday, possibly over the weekend, and my question is, should he be found guilty, what should Chelsea’s actions be? A club fine? Club ban? Forgive and forget? I asked you on the Facebook page, and here are a few of your responses.
Phil Ames: “Big fan of JT. But if found guilty he should be sacked, what sort of messege would it send otherwise”
Sunday Okoro: “ I am JT fan, and if he is found guilty, he should be forgiven, because with anger you can say or do anything. Afterall, no one is perfect.”
Nikki Hwindiri Blackthorn had another take on the matter.” Racism is bad but lying that you hav been racialy abused is worse bcz it tends to belittle an otherwise serious matter.
Nikki’s response does beg the question, what if Terry is found innocent? Will Anton Ferdinand be punished, as this sort of incident can tar a players reputation, especially someone as well known like John Terry, and racism is a massive accusation in this day and age.
Terry gets a lot of abuse on, and off the pitch, undeservedly, and a lot of press is taken away from his real personality, the hard-working, die for the team, captain, that has served Chelsea and England so well in recent years.
By Brad Smith
@BrummieBrad
With the evidence I have heard from the trial the whole thing is a joke! Whatever the outcome CFC and their fans should ignore the matter and move on. If the black players at Chelsea KNOW that JT is NOT a racist that is good enough for me. People like Drogba, Anelka, Essien, Cole, Obi Mikel, Ramires, Makalele, Alex, SWP, Desailly and many many more over the years can't all be wrong! Ferdinand is a woos and this trial has made him look like the stupid thick twat that he is! As for Steven Lawrence's Mum being at the trial all of the race brigaide should hold their heads in shame as they have set their own excellent cause back by bloody years with this nonsence!
Im inclined to agree with you Alan. Ashley Cole has been in the dock defending him, and theres no way they would if they knew he was a racist.
A lot of the footballing world dislike John Terry for one reason or another, and like I say, it is undeserved. The guy is a fanatastic player and captain, and this is just another stupid reason for people to jump on the Anti-Terry Bandwagon
I think Alan Frank has described it perfectly. As Cole said, it should not have gone to court. In my mind; even if Terry had said it, it would be for the team alone to deal with. If Terry had gone to court over what Anton said I would say its over reacting; just as this is. I speak as someone who is African, lives in Kenya, and has lived in different African countries his whole life and who has many, many fanastic black friends 🙂