Terry charged by FA for alleged abuse

LONDON (AP)

MORE JOHN TERRY

• FA disciplinary hearing begins
• Hodgson disappointed over retirement
• Terry quits England national team
• Terry maintains innocence in court
• Terry: I'm not a racist | Video
• Chelsea's Cole defends Terry | Video
• Prosecutor: Accuser lacked motive
• Terry found not guilty | FA to study case
• Rio Ferdinand blasts Cole on Twitter
• Cole responds to Rio | Trial gallery
• Police probes tweet made against Cole
• FA charges Terry for improper conduct
• Ferdinand denies FA Twitter charge
• Rio Ferdinand fined over comments

Chelsea captain John Terry was charged by the English Football Association on Friday with racially abusing an opponent, two weeks after he was cleared by a court of the same offense.

The FA said it considered the evidence from the trial before charging Terry with directing abuse at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match last October.

''I deny the charge, and I will be requesting the opportunity to attend the commission for a personal hearing,'' Terry said.

The FA alleged Terry ''used abusive and-or insulting words and/or behavior ... (and) included a reference to the ethnic origin and-or color and/or race of Anton Ferdinand.''

In court, prosecutors claimed that Terry snapped in response to insults about an alleged extramarital affair and bellowed ''(expletive) black (expletive)'' at Ferdinand.

But Terry said he only used the offensive term sarcastically to counter the profanity he claims Ferdinand was accusing him of using.

The magistrate who ruled on the case at Westminster Magistrates' Court said in his judgment that Terry's explanation was ''certainly under the cold light of forensic examination, unlikely.''

But he found Terry not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offense after deciding it was ''impossible'' to be sure what the defender said.

The FA, which has already interviewed Ferdinand and Terry, had to suspend its investigation into October's west London derby when the police probe began.

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez was banned for eight matches last season for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during another Premier League match in October.