John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, on this day in 2012.
The Chelsea captain denied the charge but a Football Association regulatory commission ruled he was guilty of misconduct during his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to QPR at Loftus Road on October 23 2011.
The 31-year-old England defender announced his retirement from international football a week before the FA’s decision and decided not to appeal against it.
An FA statement read: “An independent regulatory commission has today found a charge of misconduct against John Terry proven and has issued a suspension for a period of four matches and a fine of £220,000, pending appeal.
“The Football Association charged Mr Terry on Friday 27 July 2012 with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2] in relation to the Queens Park Rangers FC versus Chelsea FC fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.
“The charge was the result of The FA’s long-standing investigation into this matter, which was placed on hold at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service and Mr Terry’s representatives pending the outcome of the criminal trial.”
The incident occurred in Chelsea’s defeat to QPR when the pair clashed verbally on several occasions in the match.
Terry was previously found not guilty – in Westminster Magistrates Court in July 2012 – of a racially-aggravated public order offence as the prosecution was unable to prove he had called Ferdinand a “f****** black c***” as an insult.
Terry admitted using the words, but insisted he had only been repeating words he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.
The FA decided to launch their own investigation of the matter which angered Terry and he announced he was quitting international football with immediate effect, saying his position was “untenable”, on the eve of the independent hearing.
Terry’s legal team had argued the governing body’s own rules dictated that his acquittal in court meant the case could not proceed but the FA decided to carry on with their investigation, stating their charge was distinct from the court charge.
The panel who handed Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban when they found him guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra the season before declared simply using racist language was enough to breach FA rules.
