Sunday, 7th October, 2012
Chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association Clarke Carlisle believes that the English Football Association have not come down hard enough on John Terry, particularly in light of the punishment handed out to Liverpool forward Luis Suarez.
Terry has been found guilty of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand by the FA, despite being acquitted in a court of law in July.
relatedNewsStoryThe Chelsea defender has been banned for four matches and fined £220,000, although he does have the right to appeal, which lasts until 18th October.
Suarez meanwhile was also found guilty of racial abuse, directed towards Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra last season – but the Uruguayan was hit with an eight-match ban, albeit with a smaller fine of £40,000.
And for York City defender Carlisle, the FA are risking sending the message that racism is not taken as seriously as it was last season when Suarez was punished.
"The Luis Suarez ban sent out a strong message that racism isn’t tolerated in the game", Carlisle was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"Diluting that with this four-match ban almost undermines the initial message."
Carlisle also stated his belief that if Terry chooses to accept his punishment and not appeal the ban, he should contribute to campaigns to eradicate racism from the game.
"If he doesn’t contest this decision and an appeal isn’t forthcoming it would do John Terry’s image a lot of good if he was seen to be contributing to these sort of campaigns.
"It would also further affirm the message that this is something that we stand for in football."
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