1. John Terry’s defence that he had only been
repeating words he thought Anton Ferdinand had accused him of
saying and had not racially insulted him had “no credible basis”
and was “improbable, implausible and contrived”.
2. Character references made it clear that Terry
was not racially prejudiced.
3. Questions were raised over Ashley Cole’s
statement supporting Terry’s version and the role played by Chelsea
club secretary Dave Barnard in later changing that
statement.
4. Terry’s stature as England captain at the time
was an aggravating feature in the case and that his “conduct
undermines the FA’s efforts in combating racism through the Kick it
Out campaign”.
5. The Commission’s decision was “on the balance of
probabilities”.
6. Terry did not give evidence in person and no
witnesses were called on his behalf.
7. The Commission’s written reasons total 63 pages
in length, 14,765 words and contain 55 mentions of the word
c***.
The FA disciplinary report stressed Chelsea skipper Terry was
not a racist.
But that was the only bit of good news for Terry, his team-mate
Ashley Cole and Blues’ club secretary David Barnard.
Terry, 31, was systematically ripped to bits by the disciplinary
panel which fined him £220,000 and banned him for four games for
calling Ferdinand a “f****** black c***”.
It said there was “no credible basis” for Terry’s argument that
he was repeating the phrase he thought Ferdinand had accused him of
during last October’s QPR versus Chelsea clash.
The panel ruled the defender’s arguments were “improbable,
implausible and contrived”.
And they added: “We are quite satisfied, and find on the balance
of probabilities, that the offending words were said by way of
insult.”
Not to beat about the bush, they accused Terry of being a liar
and of deliberately insulting Ferdinand.
His reputation, already tarnished from past misdemeanours, was
shredded beyond repair.
Terry, who quit playing for England before the hearing when he
failed to get the case dropped, chose NOT to give
evidence to the FA commission. It meant the panel had to use
evidence he gave at Westminster Magistrates Court where he was
cleared of racial abuse three months ago.
Terry had argued that having been exonerated by the court, the
FA should not be pursuing him. He felt they were on a witch-hunt.
But that cut no ice with the FA’s panel.
They also heard from the FA that Terry’s position as England
captain — as he was at the time — had undermined their efforts to
combat racism in football.
And the report also stated how the FA had highlighted
inconsistencies in Terry’s explanations over the red card he got in
last season’s Champions League semi-final in Barcelona.
Terry has 14 days to consider an appeal and remains aggrieved
over the whole episode.
A Terry source said: “John is totally focused on the match
against Norwich and nothing else. Only when the game is over will
he then turn his attention to the FA Commission’s report.
“He will look at it in detail early next week along with his
lawyers and advisers.
“There’s no need to rush — we have 14 days to respond. We can
make a considered decision although it’s unlikely we will need the
full 14 days to do that.”
If Terry appeals, he runs the risk of his ban being increased.
It is hard though to see how his reputation could be damaged any
further, so he may feel he has not got much more to lose.
The commission had more than Terry in their sights. Cole was
also in the firing line.