Chelsea's John Terry will not step down as England captain - report

The Three Lions skipper has come under intense pressure after being charged for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, but is adamant he is not guilty and is standing firm

2 Feb 2012 13:48:00

More On :  Chelsea FC, QPR, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand
John Terry & Anton Ferdinand
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Chelsea captain will not be stepping down as England captain despite facing a court case over racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, according to the BBC.

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Terry is alleged to have abused Ferdinand when the two sides met at Loftus Road in October of last year and calls from some quarters have demanded he step down as England captain.

The centre-back was in court on Wednesday facing charges of racist abuse, but it is believed he won’t be voluntarily leaving his role, insistent that he has done nothing wrong.

A source close to Terry reportedly told the BBC: “He won't stand down. He is sure of his innocence and thus feels it would be wrong to do so.”

Terry’s case was adjourned until July 9 on Wednesday, making him available to take part in Euro 2012 for England, a decision that has been blasted by MP Damian Collins who spoke to Goal.com on Thursday.

Collins said: “Frankly it is appalling that the court case isn’t being heard until July and this due to the judicial process being held up by the football calendar.

“These are very serious charges and we simply cannot have a position where a charge like this can be made but nothing at all is done, under the pretence that it hasn’t happened until after the court case.

“By wearing the armband, Terry has a public position. He represents football in this country and is a person that people will look up to.

“But his standing as a role-model has been compromised by the charges that he faces of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, and for the good of the team he should stand aside as captain until he can clear his name.”

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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.

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20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

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.
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