In 2012, John Terry was at the heart of a controversy that would end up ending his international career. The Chelsea defender had been accused of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand, with video footage on the internet seeming to show Terry call Ferdinand a "f****** black c***". Terry denied the allegations and insisted he had instead asked Ferdinand "Oi, Anton, do you think I called you a black c***?" However, the Blues centre-back was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service for using racist language, and the case went to court. While he was later cleared of the accusations by the CPS, he was found guilty of using "abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour" after the Football Association conducted their own review into the incident. Terry later announced his retirement from international football over the controversy, citing that his position with the England national team had become untenable. He was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 by the FA over the scandal, and never played for the Three Lions again.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
