Anton Ferdinand v Terry

Starting to look like shagger Terry is finally going to get whats coming to him (tu)

Is there a boxing match Bob?

The Telegraph

Anton Ferdinand says he has "very strong feelings" about allegations he was racially abused by Chelsea captain John Terry.

Terry was accused of using racially derogative language towards Ferdinand during Queens Park Rangers' game against Chelsea last weekend, and the QPR defender has now made a statement to the FA about the matter.

Ferdinand has released a public statement through the official QPR website announcing as much, and stated he would be making no further comment on the case.

"Today (Monday 31st October 2011) I finalised my statement with the Football Association with regards to the incident that occurred last Sunday at Loftus Road in our Barclays Premier League fixture against Chelsea," Ferdinand said.

"I have very strong feelings on the matter, but in the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough enquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the enquiry is concluded."

Ferdinand was also moved to thank the support he has enjoyed from QPR on the matter: "I would like to thank the Club, Tony Fernandes, Amit Bhatia, Neil Warnock, the supporters and my fellow professionals for their unwavering support."

Terry is alleged to have mouthed the words “

---

black ----” at Ferdinand but has said that his aggressive response was in the context of denying making a racist slur. Ferdinand, however, said that he made no initial accusation of racism against Terry and that, to his knowledge, race was not mentioned during the match.

For this reason, Ferdinand was happy to meet with Terry after the match and was unaware of the specific nature of the alleged abuse aimed at him until he saw the footage that was subsequently published on the internet.

That would appear to undermine Terry’s explanation, although he did acknowledge in the first statement he released, just four hours after the incident, that Ferdinand had not accused him of any “wrongful remark”. According to Terry, “it was all a misunderstanding at the time”.

The Chelsea captain will also submit a written statement to the FA early this week and there will be supporting statements from at least two of his team-mates.

With Ferdinand accepting that he did not hear what Terry said, it would appear that the case will depend heavily on the FA’s interpretation of the video evidence. The footage that was broadcast online is partially obscured by Ashley Cole, who walks past Terry as he is speaking.

However, it is normal for the FA to request all available footage from broadcasters. Once all the statements and video footage have been collected, the FA’s legal team will make a judgment as to whether there is sufficient evidence to issue any charge.