Reports suggest that John Terry is set to accept the FA’s four-match ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, despite being adamant he has been wronged by the findings of an independent disciplinary commission.
Terry strongly believes the FA case should have been dropped after he was found not guilty in a criminal trial in the summer.
However, it looks like his advisors, or Chelsea themselves, have told Terry that it will not reflect well on the club or himself if this case is allowed to drag on further.
If he accepts the suspension Terry will miss the upcoming games against Spurs, Man United (league and cup) plus Swansea.
In addition, Terry faces further discipline form Chelsea, who have said that they will now launch an internal investigation into the matter. With the further damage that has been done to the reputation of Terry (and by association Ashley Cole), does Chelsea want Terry to continue to be the face of the club?
The fact that Terry got only a four-match suspension and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez got an eight-match suspension last season has baffled more than a few people. On person who thinks that Terry’s suspension is too short is former Football Association chairman Lord Triesman.
The FA Commission said the Chelsea captain got a lesser ban because the “racist insult was issued only once”.
But Lord Triesman told the BBC he could not understand the difference.
“I couldn’t understand why the sanction was different for a Liverpool player and for John Terry,” he said.
“It may be when you look at all the detail they thought there were reasons for the difference. I can’t see it.”