Terry sacked as England captain
06/02/10 07:47 AM
John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy by head coach Fabio Capello, who reacted ruthlessly to the Chelsea defender's alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of international team-mate Wayne Bridge.

After a brief meeting with Terry at Football Association (FA) headquarters at Wembley, Capello said he had decided to take the captaincy away from the centreback in the interests of the squad he will take to the World Cup in South Africa in June and July.

"After much thought, I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry," Capello said in a statement.

"As a captain with the team, John Terry has displayed extremely positive behaviour. However, I have to take into account other considerations and what is best for all of the England squad.

"What is best for all of the England team has inspired my choice. John Terry was notified first."

Capello appeared to indicate that Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who is currently vice-captain of the national team, would take over.

"When I chose John Terry as captain, I also selected a vice-captain and also named a third choice (Steven Gerrard)," he said. "There is no reason to change this decision."

Capello had been under intense pressure to strip Terry of the captaincy amid media criticism of the married father of two over his alleged infidelity with Vanessa Perroncel, an underwear model who has a son with Bridge but is now estranged from the Manchester City left-back.

The alleged affair only became public after the High Court last week lifted an injunction secured by Terry's lawyers to prevent reporting of the affair.

Perroncel, 33, had just made an appearance in front of reporters with her publicist to announce she would not be selling her story to the press when she heard of Capello's decision.

She looked shocked and mouthed: "Oh my God... he's been dropped" as the news broke.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he thought football fans would support Capello's judgement.

"This decision must be for the manager and Mr Capello has made that decision. I think people will abide by that decision," he said.

Terry had been strongly backed by his club coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has insisted that the player's private life will have no bearing on his position as Chelsea skipper, and Stuart Pearce, who coaches England's under-21s and helps Capello with the senior squad.

But it appears that Capello had made up his mind before a meeting that reportedly lasted only 12 minutes and finished with Terry in a distraught state.

In a statement, Terry said: "I fully respect Fabio Capello's decision. I will continue to give everything for England."

Capello, who is due to attend the Euro 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw on Sunday, picked Terry as his permanent captain in August 2008 having initially appeared to be leaning towards Gerrard or Ferdinand.

He has also spoken highly of the leadership qualities of Wayne Rooney, who captained England in a friendly against Brazil in November and could yet be the World Cup skipper given the injury problems Gerrard and Ferdinand have had this season.

Capello was greeted by a huge media scrum at Heathrow airport on Thursday, following his return to England from Switzerland, where he had been recuperating from knee surgery.

The head coach was briefed by his assistant Franco Baldini and it had been expected he would have a lengthy discussion with Terry on issues including whether he and Bridge will be able to play in the same squad and the possibility of further embarrassing revelations in the run-up to the World Cup.

Compounding the pressure on Terry, a report in Friday's Daily Mail claimed that an associate of his management agents had offered to rent his personal box at Wembley stadium for a "cash" payment of 4,000 pounds.

The 12-seat box is one of Terry's perks as England captain and FA rules expressly forbid him from renting it to a third party.

His spokesman denied that the player was involved in the alleged attempt to sell seats in the box.


Source: AFP