football John Terry: FA strips England captaincy from Chelsea defender

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John Terry: FA strips England captaincy from Chelsea defender

John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy, sources close to the defender have told BBC Sport.

The 31-year-old Chelsea centre-back was informed of the decision by Football Association chairman David Bernstein in a phone call at 1000 GMT.

He is due to stand trial in July over racial abuse allegations after an incident with QPR's Anton Ferdinand.

Terry, who lost the captaincy once previously, has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.

Bernstein spoke to FA board members and the majority view was that Terry should be stood down.

The chairman was also expected to consult England coach Fabio Capello about the issue on Friday.

Capello has until now maintained the position that Terry is innocent until proven guilty and that he should be free to select him as his captain until his trial is over.

There was some nervousness among board members as to how the Italian would react, with some fearing he will see it as undue interference in team affairs.

But there was an acceptance among the FA hierarchy that the matter should be taken out of his hands.

The FA has been forced to act after Terry's case was adjourned until 9 July - a week after the Euro 2012 finals end - ensuring that the affair will dominate the build-up to the championships.

For some time now Bernstein has been growing increasingly concerned at the FA's position on Terry.

Some board members have lobbied him to take decisive action to ensure the FA is not accused of being weak on racism.

Black players within the England squad have also been putting pressure on the Professional Footballers' Association to take a stronger stance on Terry.

This is believed to have also played a part in forcing the FA to act.

Terry was previously stripped of the captaincy when Capello removed him from the role in February 2010 following allegations he had an affair with an England team-mate's ex-girlfriend.

Terry was reinstated 13 months later with Capello saying "one year of punishment is enough".

Former FA chief executive Mark Palios questioned why the FA had opted to change its stance on Terry, having kept him as captain since the allegations were first made in October.

He told BBC Radio 5 live: "What the FA has to do is a balancing act between the rights of the individual and the wider game. I don't know how that will affect the dressing room and make it better than it was by keeping him in the squad but taking the captaincy off him."

Mark Perryman, of the England supporters' club, told 5 live it was difficult to understand why the case was taking 10 months to come to court.

"The court case should have been dealt with immediately," he said. "As a result the FA have got themselves in an incredible tangle of him playing but not being captain.

"Mark Palios is right to question what has happened in the last 24 hours to make the FA act."

Source: BBC Sport

[Lingwo]

Innocent till proven guilty. Glad to see that still stands with the FA.

I'm not the biggest fan of Terry, far from it but still they should wait and see if he is guilty before removing the armband.

[Wakers]

About time. This is about the third of fourth time he should have been stripped of the captaincy for whatever utterly moronic thing he's done.

Fact is, the police have enough evidence to take the matter to court and therefore having him as captain brings a vast amount of unwanted negative attention to the England squad.

Also, he seems like an utter ****** considering all the stuff he's been caught doing (cheating on his wife, cheating on his wife with a team mate's wife / fiancee / girlfriend, running over the foot of a reporter, possibly racially abusing another player, assaulting people in night clubs and so on).

He shouldn't really be playing for England at all.

[insomniac9]

Better late than never. Can't believe that the Suarez case can be dealt with quickly yet Terry still hasn't had anything to answer from the FA. To protect the team and Terry he should be left out of the squad until it has been heard at court.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I think they must be quite certain that the claims against him are true, and if so, then he deserves to lose the captaincy. Racism is grotesque and it still horrifies me how prolific it is, especially in sports such as football.

[Wakers]

It's prolific in sports because it's prolific in society. England, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium are all countries that I've lived in and seen blatant racism in casual situations and no one bats an eye.

[DrunkenBeard]

Problem with these kind of articles is you don't hear what the player has to say for his defense. It's written like it is practically a fact.