The news that John Terry has been included in England’s preliminary 23-man squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Sweden and Spain leaves manager Fabio Capello with a huge decision ahead of the naming of the final squad on Sunday.
Capello is to consult with senior FA figures over Terry’s fate yet while the allegations of racism in last month’s match against QPR hang over Terry there can surely only be one conclusion to these meetings.
The England captaincy brings with it huge benefits (as Terry has been caught out trying to take advantage of in the past) but also, and most importantly, huge responsibilities. Unlike the strategic role of captaincy in cricket, the role of the captain in football is as a figurehead and ambassador. Terry has long been considered a leader on the pitch by his Chelsea team mates but it is in the role of ambassador that his credentials have often been found wanting.
There is no need to go in to the litany of incidents involving Terry over the years because they are all well-documented; what is salient in this instance is that he used racist language which has been witnessed by millions of football fans around the world.
Terry admits using the language but disputes the context and it is this that is currently being investigated. Yet there can be no place for him as England’s footballing ambassador whilst the issue is ongoing. The casual racism of the 1970s is long gone from most football grounds in this country (and society at large) so the thought of the captain of England’s most high profile national team behaving like a character from an unenlightened sitcom from that era is not one that Capello or anybody at the FA can contemplate.
