MP Damian Collins calls for John Terry to stand down as England captain

Reading striker Jason Roberts has also suggested the 31-year-old should not be included in the Euro 2012 squad, suggesting his presence will create a 'toxic' atmosphere

2 Feb 2012 08:29:00

By James McManus

More On :  Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea FC, England, QPR, Reading, Anton Ferdinand, Jason Roberts, John Terry
John Terry & Anton Ferdinand
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MP Damian Collins has called for Chelsea's John Terry to stand down as England captain after his trial for allegedly racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand was put back until after the conclusion of Euro 2012.

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Following the defender's hearing at West London Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, in which he entered a 'not guilty' plea, it was announced that the 31-year-old's trial would not begin until July 9, eight days after the final of the tournament in Poland & Ukraine.

Collins, a member of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has stated his belief that Terry should stand down.

“John Terry should stand aside as captain until the case is resolved, and any doubt either way removed,” Collins Tweeted.

Reading striker Jason Roberts has since commented that Terry should not be included in the Euro 2012 squad, suggesting the centre-back's presence in the squad will lead to a 'toxic' atmosphere.

“I have seen the Ferdinand case has been put back. On this basis, I do not believe that the England captain should go to the Euros," Roberts said via Twitter.

"Innocent until proven guilty is not always the case in football, as Rio Ferdinand found out in his case. Also more importantly, believe me, the dressing room at the Euros will be TOXIC unless the correct decision is made."

Roberts then went onto cite the suspensions handed to former Leeds pair Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate from England duty, who were charged with affray and GBH back in 2000.

“Innocent until proven Guilty...I have also noted that Woodgate and Bowyer where suspended from England Duty pending there Assault Charges???,” he added.

Piara Powar, the executive director of European football's anti-discrimination body - Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), echoed these sentiments.

"Innocent until proven guilty," he Tweeted.

"But should John Terry remain as England captain through the Euros? I can't see how he can."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
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