Terry got a 4 match ban - Are you kidding me?

Terry has been in the thick of things for all the wrong reasons for quite some time now; sleeping around, racial abuse, etc. It’s time Balotelli’s vest went to Terry: “WHY ALWAYS ME?”

The latest and in the recent news was the Terry-Ferdinand racism saga that has been going on for about a year now. Terry was facing charges of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers’ defender Anton Ferdinand last October. It has finally ended with Terry being found guilty of calling Ferdinand a f****** black c*** and hence, racial abuse. English FA has granted Terry a 4 match ban. Some would question the use of the word “grant”, but the truth is, it’s nothing less, considering recent punishments for the same and also the issue in question.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was handed an eight-match ban last December for racially abusing Patrice Evra. There was no conclusive TV footage or audio evidence, but Suarez had accepted him calling a ‘negro’, which he argued in his part of the world is not offensive, but according to Evra and more importantly the FA, it was.

Racism has been long existent and there have been efforts from all around the world to eradicate it. It has been a difficult task to reach where we are today in regard to racism which was prevalent in the early 70s, 80s and even 90s. All the Associations have joined hands against racism and been talking about strict measures against practitioners of racism. After all this talk, it’s funny to notice that a player gets a 3 match suspension for a red card and the English FA hands a 4 match ban for RACISM.

The FA is trying to make a fool of themselves by such inconsistent decision making. Terry had been stripped of the captaincy on 2 occasions due to the bad name he earned himself because you cannot have such leaders, which might set a bad example for the youngsters. Terry has been the English captain formerly and has been long serving Chelsea as captain.

Captains are figures who set examples, are idolized by youngsters and hence must be clean for the better future of the sport. When you are the captain, you have an added responsibility against issues prevalent in the game; namely racism here, and must show respect for the opposition. Being guilty of racially abusing a player when you are expected to lead the way and show the world you are completely for stopping this, and then getting away with a 4 match ban is setting a wrong example. Such punishments wouldn’t send out a right message to the fans. Punishments should be such, which send shivers down the spine of anyone who even thinks of racism. Such issues should be taken up more seriously and punishments have to be severe if we are looking at eradicating racism completely.

Racism should be a complete NO-NO.

Considering all this, a 4 match ban handed to Terry for the level of offence and seriousness of the issue seems to be nothing less than a JOKE.