Apparently, I go on about this whole JT thing too much on Twitter – not that I’m particularly bothered what people think because I’m not dropping it anyway. I’ve already had a bit of a rant about the FA forging ahead with charges against the Chelsea captain in spite of him being found not guilty in a court of law and I haven’t changed my opinion on that. As far as I’m concerned, if we’re talking about conduct charges here, then Anton Ferdinand should be facing charges as well. He isn’t.
What’s bothered me about the whole thing though, is that it’s all seemed very one-sided. Yes, they’d have charged him ages ago if it wasn’t for the court case but the point is, there was a court case – and JT was found not guilty, so why continue with the ‘racism’ thing? If they want to charge him with abusive, offensive and insulting conduct, then go for it – none of that can be disputed, the racism angle can because of the verdict in court.
For me, it’s all about agenda. The FA want to be seen to do the right thing in terms of addressing the issue of racism in football – but as usual, they’re getting it all wrong. Trying to make an example out of a player who has already faced that particular charge in a court – and been found not guilty – smacks of a bit more than the FA’s usual over-inflated sense of importance, it’s complete overkill. If they had any sense at all, they’d realise that by appearing to join in with the witch hunt, it’s almost racism in reverse.
Maybe that’s overstating it a bit but there’s a huge amount of prejudice against John Terry in this country already, he was judged for his marital indiscrepancies and the FA supported this by stripping him of his England captaincy, yet by comparison, Ryan Giggs – a player whose infidelities have also been bandied about in the press – has recently had the honour of captaining team GB bestowed on him by the same FA.
If you then look at the fact that JT is up on a conduct charge of ‘using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour’ and yet Anton Ferdinand isn’t facing charges despite clear evidence that his conduct was just as questionable, and what we appear to have here is a very clear case of one man being treated unfavourably compared to others. Why exactly are they treating Anton Ferdinand differently? And how come Rio Ferdinand’s tweet about Ashley Cole has been overlooked in the middle of what is a very high profile affair? Clearly had a racist tone to it but hasn’t been jumped all over in the FA’s stand to ‘stamp it out’.
Anyway, imagine John Terry then gets a ban in excess of 8 games – a precedent they’ve already set with Suarez. Or worse still, as the Mirror suggested yesterday, finds himself invited to leave the England side – a side he’s worked his arse off for, for years – would that sort of disparity in punishments really just be the FA following their standard protocol? No, of course it wouldn’t, and yet we’re meant to sit back and say nothing because we’re told JT deserves it.
Do the FA really think this whole thing will ever be seen as being about racism? Because it won’t. The allegation at the heart of the whole furore in the first place has always come second to the fact that John Terry was the player accused of it – and I couldn’t care less how much stick I have to take for going on about it to be honest, because that, for me, is the bottom line here.
Blue is the colour
