10 Biggest Premier League Controversies
5. John Terry's "Sarcastic" Racism
The Background:
Chelsea's John Terry and Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand are England's core central defensive partnership. It is October 2011 and Terry's Chelsea are away at QPR where Ferdinand's brother Anton plays in defence.
In February 2010 Rio had replaced Terry as England captain after the latter had been accused of an affair with Chelsea and England teammate Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend, French lingerie model Vanessa Perroncel. An injury to Rio earlier in 2011 had, however, seen the national team's captaincy restored to his defensive partner.
The Controversy:
During the QPR game Terry is caught on camera directing the words "f*cking knobhead" and "f*cking black c*nt" at Anton Ferdinand.
Terry is arrested for using racist language and put on trial in February 2012. In his defence Terry does not deny using those particular words but claims that they were said sarcastically as a way of questioning whether Anton had been accusing him of racism.
The Aftermath:
The jury at Terry's trial accept the sarcasm defence and he is acquitted of criminal charges in July 2012. Nevertheless, the FA conduct their own inquiry and conclude that Terry's defence was "improbable, implausible and contrived".
They issue a fine and a four-match ban, but more importantly strip Terry of the England captaincy once again, permanently this time. England boss Fabio Capello, angered at the FA going over his head to make this decision, ends up resigning.
Terry apologises for his words, but is criticised for making no apology to Anton Ferdinand directly. The incident creates a permanent rift between Terry and Rio, who also picks up a fine from the FA after he tweets calling Terry's teammate Ashley Cole a "choc ice" for his support for his Chelsea captain.
At that summer's Euro 2012, new England boss Roy Hodgson selects Terry for the squad while Rio is conspicuous by his absence. Terry goes on to retire from the national team in September, calling his position "untenable".
Terry remains captain of Chelsea for the rest of his Blues career.