This verdict is damning — a dark day for John Terry, Ashley Cole and Chelsea

 
James Olley5 October 2012

The Football Association commission’s judgement refers to John Terry’s utterance of ‘f***ing black c**t’ as the “unholy trinity”. Today’s report is so damning, that moniker could be applied to Terry, Ashley Cole and Chelsea.

Or, if you prefer, “improbable, implausible and contrived.” This was the verdict on Terry’s defence that he was merely repeating and denying what he thought Anton Ferdinand had said to him at Loftus Road almost exactly a year ago.

Despite a criminal court declaring Terry a credible witness, the commission found his defence improbable. Cole’s testimony was unreliable and the whole legal argument was contrived. There remain questions over Chelsea’s involvement.

Terry’s defence was predicated upon the irrelevance of an FA investigation after he had been cleared in a court of law.

Defence barrister George Carter-Stephenson attempted to argue that the Rule 6.8 of the FA’s Disciplinary Regulations stated that a verdict in a criminal court should be binding unless there was “clear and convincing evidence this is not the case”.

Why rake over old ground?

The commission concluded the FA “was not having a second bite of the cherry in this case but its first bite” and had a duty to investigate as custodians of a sport watched by millions.

Once Rule 6.8 was no longer an issue, a guilty verdict was inevitable given the evidence at hand. It may explain the timing of Terry’s international retirement — his stance was untenable.

Nobody emerges from this turgid affair with any credit. The industrial language highlighted in the report — the word c*** appears 55 times in 63 pages — is an insight into football’s foulness but is hardly the preserve of these individuals or even the Premier League.

Similarly, although the FA were forced to wait by the police before beginning their investigation, there must be questions asked about why the investigation took so long. Luis Suarez received an eight-game ban after he used the word “negro” three times towards Patrice Evra. Terry’s four-game ban for a single usage suggests four games is the starting point for punishing racism.

This is simply too small and football must address the issue quickly.

But this is the darkest of days for Terry, Cole and Chelsea. The commission concluded Terry is not a racist but the court of public opinion will see it differently. Cole’s international career is in serious doubt after his ill-timed and idiotic outburst this afternoon.

Chelsea club secretary David Barnard apparently contacted the FA to alter Cole’s statement and the club’s original attempt to delay proceedings contributed to a malaise that has damaged the game.

An unholy trinity indeed.

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