John Terry has been given a date for his race trial against Anton Ferdinand. Nothing surprising there. The foolishness of this is the trial would be after the Euro Championships in the summer. Surely today must be April 1st not the 1st of February. No I haven’t been fooled, this news is real.
Now I was one of the first to say that if Luis Suarez was guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra, then he should be punished. An apparently complex investigation followed and on the technicalities that Suarez should have known the South American dialogue he used was offensive in Europe, and the fact he was caught on camera saying what he said more than once, the FA handed out a pretty swift verdict of an 8 match ban.
What I fail to see with delaying the Terry trial is why? Both players involved in the incident are both English. Yes interpretation can be confusing but what Terry is alleged to have said, which I won’t be referring to, doesn’t leave much room for interpretation. There is video evidence to support the allegation, so how many Chelsea witnesses do the FA need? Did Liverpool worry about how many players and staff they sent to Suarez’s hearing? No, because they only sent those that were closest to the incident. Are we really expected to believe that Chelsea could not have spared their players one afternoon or had video statements direct from their Cobham training ground? Are footballers lives that consuming that a thirty minute statement or examination of knowledge is beyond them?
This whole situation seems designed to keep a player who had enough personal and social skeletons already as the England captain elect. As we all know if he is found guilty, he will be lucky to play for England again, let alone captain them. In fact the more I see and learn about John Terry the less I want to introduce my boys to football. Bryan Robson or David Beckham he certainly is not. Terry doesn’t inspire me. His hyped up status actually sickens me.
What message does it send out if England shock the world and win Euro 2012 and Terry lifts the trophy aloft. It sends the wrong message as within a couple of weeks of that potential triumph, that same man will be standing trial for a racially aggravated public order offence. Do you want your children aspiring to that? In my eyes, the simple fact that he is entangled in more drama, yet again, should see him stripped of the captaincy. Do we really need a man who has always lacked international speed as is becoming increasingly caught out?
The answer is no. Not as a centre back nor as captain. Thankfully our centre back possibilities run long and endless. There’s Jones, Ferdinand and Smalling from Manchester United, Richards and Lescott from Man City, Jagielka, Shawcross, Dawson, Gary Cahill and if we are really stretched, Steven Taylor from Newcastle. Even Terry’s alleged victim Anton Ferdinand himself. Or Jack Rodwell if really need be.
Then who on earth would captain England in Terry’s absence? Again the choices are quite wide. Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Scott Parker, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney. Each and every one would do as good or a better job than the lumbering Terry does.
This just smells funny. Like in the Suarez case, if he is guilty, punish him and strip him of what he doesn’t deserve. Namely respect. If he is innocent then end of argument. Let us determine that now, rather than at the end of the season, otherwise the FA might as well just not bother investigating or punishing Terry at all.
Do you think delaying the trial is fair? Comment in the box below.
Written by Wesley Hillier @armchairstato.blogspot.com
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Suarez was caught on camera? Which one? No video evidence was ever adduced.
Clarification. Video evidence was used when Evra testified, which Suarez was not provided with when he appeared a week later. Sky did not have any footage directly related to any of the ten times Suarez was said to have used the word “negro” on Evra.
Not accusing you of anything, just asking for a rechecking of your facts.
The haters hunt in packs, like all jackals. More reasoned people wait for the facts and in this case there is a trial coming up. Even football fans must realise that the legal system takes precendence over populistic haters that judge without knowing anything, or football associations trying to be politically correct. Just wish Suarex also had had the chance of getting his case tried legally instead by opinionated know-nothingers that write on the web, on twitter and other social media