Chelsea defender John Terry has been stripped of the England Captaincy by the FA over allegations he racially abused QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

Terry is due to stand trial for this charge in court on July 9th – one week after the European Championship concludes, he has entered a plea of ‘Not Guilty’. Members of the public in the ground reported the abuse, which is why it is in the hands of criminal prosecutors and why it wasn’t dealt with by the FA internally – like the Luis Suarez – Patrice Evra affair.

Terry received a phone call from FA Chairman David Bernstein explaining the decision this afternoon. The last time the captaincy was taken from Terry was in February of 2010, after allegations he had been involved in an affair with England team-mate Wayne Bridge’s girlfriend. Scandalous stories about Terry’s love-life littered the front and back pages of the national news and it was decided it would be in everyone’s best interest to take the captaincy away from him.

Manchester United Defender Rio Ferdinand, who took the captaincy the last time Terry was reprimanded, has tweeted that he would not accept the role this time, if it was offered to him.
Previously the English FA, and Chelsea FC were adopting the position of ‘innocent until proven guilty” and whilst his football club are still holding to that stance, the FA have said that they have made this decision due to the ‘high profile’ nature of the England captaincy and its additional demands and requirements, especially in the run-up to a major tournament.

The FA also explained their decision to leave Terry in place as captain until now, stating that they had expected that the trial would be concluded before the European Championship started, however in the light of the trial date being given in July, they felt they needed to take this action now in the interests of all involved. They said, he would not “captain the England team until the allegations against him are resolved”.

It is understood that England Manager Fabio Capello was not involved in FA’s discussions on the subject – but will responsible for making the decision as to who replaces him.
The FA finished their statement by saying that their decision “in no way infers any suggestion of guilt in relation to the charge made against John Terry,” and that they would not make any further comments on the subject.

Andre Villas-Boas said that John Terry would continue as captain of Chelsea, and implied that he did not agree with the action the FA had taken.