England captain welcomes FA racism enquiry

John Terry has welcomed the Football Association’s (FA) decision to launch an investigation into an allegation of racist abuse during Chelsea’s ill-tempered west London derby at Queens Park Rangers. 

England captain Terry has strenuously denied racially abusing Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, younger brother of his long-time international team mate Rio, in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road on Sunday. 

The FA said on Tuesday it would look into the allegations, on the same day it also charged Chelsea with failing to control their players during the match. 

In addition, visiting manager Andre Villas-Boas has been asked by the FA to explain his post-match criticism of referee Chris Foy.  

“I welcome the FA enquiry and look forward to clearing my name as soon as possible,” Terry said in a statement. 

An incident involving the two players has been widely publicised after footage was shown on the Internet. 

An anonymous complaint was also made to the police who have said they are looking into the matter.  

“The FA takes seriously any allegations of discrimination and abuse of this type,” it said in a statement which made no mention of either player. 

Terry was quick to deny the allegations after Sunday’s match. He released a statement that evening saying the incident was a “misunderstanding”.  

Villas-Boas supported his captain at a news conference on Tuesday. The Portuguese sought to draw a line under the matter and said Terry and Ferdinand had met up after the match. 

The Daily Mail newspaper reported the meeting ended with the two players high-fiving and embracing. 

“Anton was present in our dressing room. For us it was the end of the story and it still is,” the Chelsea manager said. 

“It’s just a misunderstanding and something blown out of all proportion. People who represent this country should have better and fuller support.” 

Rangers released a statement on Tuesday, saying they were aware of the incident and would be conducting their own enquiries. 

“As a club we will provide our players with our unequivocal support when alleged incidents like this occur,” chairman Tony Fernandes said.  

The game ended in a shock defeat for Chelsea who had right back Jose Bosingwa and striker Didier Drogba sent off in a fiery first half during which Rangers scored the only goal from the penalty spot.  

The behaviour of Chelsea players following Bosingwa’s dismissal, however, has landed the club in further hot water with the FA. 

The governing body said on Tuesday it was charging the club with “failure to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion” after they surrounded the referee following the first red card. 

The FA also said it had written to Villas-Boas to demand an explanation of his post-match comments in which he criticised the award of the penalty and said the result would have been different under another official.

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