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| John Terry and Ferdinand during the altercation |
The magistrate said chelseaFC captain and England international John Terry was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence because there was doubt over the context of what he said to Anton Ferdinand during a Premiership match last season.
He argued that he was just responding to a wrongful accusation by the other player, and Senior District Judge Howard Riddle said that no one heard exactly what he had said nor could expert lip-readers work it out.
Last year the sport’s governing body banned Liverpool striker Luis Suarez for eight matches and fined him £40,000 for racist abuse
The F.A. said in a statement:
"The FA notes the decision in the John Terry case and will now seek to conclude its own enquiries."
The week-long trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard plenty of evidence that Terry was not a racist, but in a 15-page ruling the judge said he was only concerned with what he had said to Ferdinand towards the end of the match between Queen’s Park Rangers and Chelsea on October 23rd last year.
“I understand why Mr Terry wants to make this point,” the judge noted. “His reputation is at stake.”
The two players had clashed in the penalty box at Loftus Road and as Terry returned to his half of the pitch, Ferdinand made a “fist-pumping gesture” towards him “accompanied by abuse” about the fact that the Chelsea player had had an affair with a team-mate’s girlfriend.
Terry admitted that in response he had let off a volley of swearwords, including “f------ black c---”, but insisted he was just disputing a claim by Ferdinand that he had earlier used the racist insult against him.
Both prosecution and defence called lip-readers to study footage of the televised game, but they were unable to detect all the words spoken or the way in which they were used.
Ferdinand denied he had made this allegation against Terry, but the judge pointed out the QPR defender had “lost control” and angrily insulted him “over and over again”, and had later failed to give a full account of what he said.
The judge said Ferdinand was “brave” to give evidence but added that he had a “doubt” over whether or not he missed the “crucial comment”, given that he was looking at Terry at the time of their spat.
“I cannot discount the possibility that he was aware of the comments directed at him, and found it easier to say that he wasn’t.”
He also pointed out that the Chelsea player had “learned to live” with taunts about his private life, but would have been “shocked and angered” to have been accused of racism.
The judge said Terry had maintained his account over the past year and it was unclear what he and Ferdinand had said to each other in the dressing room afterwards, just as a video clip of their confrontation went “viral” on the internet.
Judge Riddle concluded that nobody heard what Terry said or how he said it, and “nobody has been able to show that he is lying”.
Although he said it was “highly unlikely” that Ferdinand had accused Terry of using a racist term against him, it was “possible” that Terry believed this to be the case.
“It is therefore possible that what he said was not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him. In those circumstances, there being a doubt, the only verdict the court can record is one of not guilty.”
Terry showed no emotion as the verdict was read out on Friday afternoon, while relatives in the public gallery cheered and supporters outside celebrated, and left the courtroom quickly without making any comment.
Dan Morrison, John Terry's lawyer, said:
“He (John Terry) did not racially abuse Mr Ferdinand and the court has accepted this".
“John would like to thank his legal team for their hard work and his family, friends and Chelsea Football Club for their support.”
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