I have written before about the Racism Row engulfing English Football.

It centres on John Terry, captain of the England national team and major club Chelsea. It is difficult to like John Terry. Two years ago, he was stripped of the England captaincy because he had an affair with a team mates (Wayne Bridge) girlfriend. Highly paid professional footballers are tabloid regulars. At least the minority who live their lives ostentatiously enjoying the fruits of their success……..money (Terry earns over £100,000 per week), houses, cars…….women.

John Terry faces criminal charges. He is accused of racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers) in a match earlier in the season. The trial will take place in July and the delay is not doing football……and more importantly…race relations ….any good.

At the height of the John Terry-Wayne Bridge tabloid story, Bridge then transferred to another team refused to shake hands with Terry in a pre-match ritual.

In my view, the pre-match ritual where the players of two teams shake hands is nonsense. It is ……….an invented tradition. Many young people will grow up thinking that this is a long standing tradition but in fact it is no more than five years old. Of course shaking hands before a game is actually a symbol of good sportsmanship……..and often theres real affection as players recognise an old friend on the other team. But the other side of this “tradition” is that it is a prelude to cheating.

The crisis has escalated over the past few days. Chelsea (John Terrys team) was drawn against Queen Park Rangers (Anton Ferdinands team) in a FA Cup match last Saturday. Obviously in the days prior to the match, the fans of Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers became increasingly partizan. There was some newspaper speculation that in the pre-match ritual, Ferdinand would not shake Terry’s hand. And further speculation that Ferdinands team mates might do the same. The Football authorities headed off a crisis by abandoning the pre-match ritual. Sensible.

Earlier this week, John Terry’s legal team entered a formal plea of “not guilty” to the charges and a trial date has been set for 9th July. This not only means that the rest of the English football season will be played about before the court case is heard and a definitive verdict is reached.

In June……England (current captain John Terry) will be involved in the European Football Championships. The England team consists of black and white players.

Clearly, nothing must be done which would prejudge a trial and John Terry is innocent until a Judge (no jury will be involved) decides otherwise. Nevertheless there is a genuine dilemna. One scenario is that England take part in a major football tournament and the captain of the team is subsequently found guilty of racist behaviour. Alternatively England might strip Terry of the captaincy or even not select him at all (a diplomatic “injury” perhaps) thus weakening the team…….and Terry might be found entirely innocent.

There is much speculation today that John Terry will indeed be stripped of the England captaincy. People suggest that this is unfair…that it pre-judges a trial. They suggest that John Terry should be allowed to live his life as normal.

I think this attitude is naive. When people are charged with a serious offence and in the context of football and broader society, racial abuse is a serious offence, they might expect their lives to be disrupted. For example a person charged with an offence might expect to be remanded in custody or have bail conditions which are stringent.

For example, a schoolteacher accused of making a racist or sexist comment to a fellow teacher might reasonably be expected to be suspended from duty until the matter is clarified by a “Hearing”. This does not imply guilt or innocence.

Therefore I strongly feel that John Terry cannot reasonably play in the European Championships. And certainly cannot captain the team.

EDITS: I posted the above at 8.50am. I can now confirm (11.25am) that John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy.