SO when it came to it, Chelsea chickened out.
They had a wonderful chance to set new standards when it came to race issues by stripping John Terry of the club captaincy.
But, of course, they declined to set any sort of example at all.
Instead, they came out with the following weasel words: “The club will be taking further action in addition to the four-match suspension and £220,000 fine.
“In accordance with our long-standing policy that disciplinary action will remain confidential.”
What a cop-out.
What a dereliction of duty.
The whole effectiveness of any punishment is that it is made public.
That the transgressor is seen to have been dealt with. It is also a means of discovering whether the people running the club and making these decisions — people effectively employed by the fans — are doing their job properly.
Now, no one knows.
We will just have to take their word for it. I doubt whether I am the only one to suspect that, in fact, NO further action has been taken at all.
That Chelsea might just be making it all up.
That Teflon Tel has once again got away with it.
Yet are we surprised by any of this? Are we hell! For the very good reason that clubs in the main do not tend to take the lead on moral issues when it adversely affects them.
Yes, they strike poses and bang on about ‘Kick It Out’ and all the other hot discriminatory issues of the day.
And they are more than ready to hammer the fans — like the one banned for life after abusing Didier Drogba.
Then there were the racist chants from a group of Chelsea fans on the way back from Norwich.
And the investigation into claims that Daniel Sturridge was subjected to monkey taunts from other Chelsea supporters during a game against Genk in Belgium.
At the time, Chelsea issued a statement saying how they abhored such behaviour and how they would apply the strictest punishment to anyone found guilty of it.
Except their own players, of course.
The ones who should be setting the real example.
When it comes to them, the club either fudge the issue or sweep it under the Axminster because the game’s stars are far too important to be treated like normal human beings.
Just look at the way Liverpool — relinquishing all responsibility — defended Luis Suarez.
Did we really believe that Chelsea would come crashing down on their captain when club secretary Dave Barnard was, like Terry, effectively called a liar by the FA’s independent panel?
Barnard’s evidence was described as “materially defective” with panel chairman Craig Moore voicing “very real concerns about the accuracy of Mr Barnard’s recollections”.
Yesterday, Terry announced he would not be appealing against the four-game ban imposed by the independent panel after he was found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. Thank God for that.
At least we have been spared the Premier League-induced ordeal of the will-he-won’t-he handshake between Terry and Rio Ferdinand next weekend at Stamford Bridge.
As for the Ferdinands, neither came out of the whole thing particularly well, either.
Terry also admitted that his language was not acceptable and that his whole response was below the level expected of Chelsea FC.
Now if Chelsea were really serious about combating racism — rather than just paying lip-service to it — they would replace Terry as skipper.
They would know that his position was untenable. Especially in this of all weeks when the subject raised its ugly head once more in Serbia.
Whenever we criticise other countries for the way their supporters behave when it comes to racial issues, they can always reply that we are fine ones to talk when one former England skipper has been found guilty of the very same crimes by a panel representing his country’s own governing body.
Pot, kettle, etc.
Yes, of course, Terry was cleared in July by West London magistrates.
But we have long known the law to be an ass. And we have long known courts of law to be fallible.
Far better and safer to trust to human instinct.
And so we arrived at the state of play where the independent panel described Terry’s defence as “improbable, implausible and contrived”.
Which is probably in line with the thinking of every football fan outside Stamford Bridge — and quite a few inside as well.
JT obviously didn’t help himself with his volte-face after being caught with his hand in the till in Barcelona last season.
On that night he told TV he “never touched the player” after being sent off in the Champions League semi-final.
When TV replays showed he most certainly had, he changed his tune.
As far as the independent FA panel are concerned, Terry is guilty as charged.
This obviously left Chelsea in an embarrassing position.
But not so embarrassing that they took the right action and stood down Terry as skipper.
That would be like punishing themselves. And they most certainly couldn’t do that!
By STEVEN HOWARD
