England legend calls for Terry to stay on form
Sir Bobby Charlton has backed John Terry to play a vital in England’s European Championship conquest, calling for him to stop the campaign derailing following being stripped of the captaincy for the second time.
Manchester United legend Charlton has supported the Football Association’s decision to take the captiancy away from Terry whilst he awaits trial over allegations of racial abuse on QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, of which he denies.
The case has been delayed until after Euro 2012, after Chelsea and Terry’s legal representatives appealed against the FA.
World-Cup winner Charlton led England to glory in 1966, and is still his country’s all-time top goalscorer. He urges Terry to solve the issues now rather than enter the tournament with the allegations in his mind.
“We sometimes laugh at the Football Association but the Football Association govern the rules of the game,” explained Charlton, speaking in his role as a Laureus World Sports Awards academy member.
“At the end of the day, if John Terry has been found to have potentially made some mistakes and has been pilloried all through the media then they have to act.
“The one person who can solve this is John Terry himself. I think that we need to solve it before the championships come, if we can.”
Reminded that Terry’s trial would not take place until July 9, Charlton said: “That’s legally. Physically, amongst themselves, if you have a problem in your team and you are a member of the team then you have an opportunity maybe to influence by speaking to the lad himself personally.
“The only thing I’m feeling is that I hope whatever decision they make doesn’t jeopardise the chance we might have of actually winning something for a change.”
