John Terry has rejected claims he racially abused Anton Ferdinand – saying he could have whispered remarks to his opponent if he had “anything to hide”.
The England and Chelsea defender’s trial heard he was not prepared to be called a racist, and insisted his work for teammates’ charities in Africa demonstrated he was not.
But Westminster Magistrates’ Court also heard the 31-year-old accepted that, “with hindsight”, he would have dealt with the issue differently.
Terry is accused of calling Ferdinand a “f****** black c***” during a Chelsea match against QPR on October 23 last year. He has denied a racially aggravated public order offence.
A recording of Terry’s interview with the FA, conducted a week after the incident, was played to the trial.
He told FA investigator Jennifer Kennedy: “I have been called a lot of things in my football career and off the pitch, but being called a racist I am not prepared to take. I have never been accused of that before, inside or outside football.
“I took it to heart. If I had something to hide I wouldn’t be projecting it in front of the Sky cameras and the people in the ground.
“I could have easily had my hand over my mouth or whispered in his ear.”
His representative, Keith Cousins, told the hearing that Terry was “rhetorically responding” to what he thought Ferdinand had accused him of.
The court heard that, in his police interview, Terry repeated to officers that he believed Ferdinand had shouted “black c***” at him and his response was: “F*** off, f*** off, yeah, yeah, black c***, f****** knobhead.”
“He was being a knobhead for alleging I had,” Terry told police.
The court also heard that Terry had worked with former Chelsea captain Marcel Desailly and striker Didier Drogba’s African charities, which he told police “demonstrated” he was not a racist.
When asked about how he handled the situation, Terry told the FA: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
As the prosecution completed its case, it also emerged that the only person who initially complained to police about Terry was an off-duty police officer.
The maximum punishment for the offence Terry is charged with is a £2,500 fine.
Source : Orange