John Terry Race Row: Death Threats, Anton Ferdinand For England And Hiding In Sweden

JOHN TERRY Race Row: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at the Chelsea and England captain in the news – death threats; Spain, Sweden, office politics and Ince:

The Sun (front page): “Cops hunt sicko – Soccer Race Row Death Threat”

The Sun describes QPR’s Anton Ferdinand as a “soccer ace”. Can it be that as the race row thickens, Ferdinand gets better at football and the tabloids are calling for his inclusion in the England team at Terry’s expense? The paper’s Shaun Curtis writes:

RACE-row footballer Anton Ferdinand has become the target of a terrifying death threat, The Sun can reveal.

Not an idle death threat. A terrifying one.

Cops were called in after a letter was sent to his Queens Park Rangers club following claims Anton, 26, was racially abused by Chelsea skipper John Terry in a game at Loftus Road two weeks ago. Police investigating the death threat have told Anton to fit a panic alarm at his home.

What’s in the note?

The details in the note were so graphic cops told Anton and other close relatives they must take immediate precautionary measures.

All Ferdinand’s family are now victims of Terry’s alleged racism?

Some family members are believed to have already taken the advice and installed the alarms. They are a direct connection to a nearby station and mean a police car can arrive in minutes.

Go on:

The letter threatening Anton was delivered to QPR’s ground by hand last Friday. Because of the detail, club bosses decided Anton should not see it.

So. A letter was hand delivered to QPR, and that’s as far as it went – until it made it into the papers.

Curtis adds:

Anton wore an anti-racism T-shirt a week ago. His brother, Manchester United star Rio, 32, also wore a “United against Racism” armband during his team’s 2-0 Champions League win over Otelul Galati on Wednesday.

Al footballers wear anti-racism T-shirts, including Terry. It’s par for the course.

Earlier, there were reports that some Chelsea fans sang “Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are“, although it is now believed they were singing “Oi! You don’t think we’re singing ‘Anton Ferdinand you know what you are are’, do you?”

The Sun (back page): “Shut It Capello”

FABIO CAPELLO is under pressure from the Met Police to stop talking about John Terry. Cops investigating the race-row allegations surrounding Terry and Anton Ferdinand do not want England manager Capello to prejudice their case.

See above and all previous media reports on John Terry, a man hunted by a voracious and vengeful press.

The Times (back page): “Terry promised he will return – Capello tells defender that he will captain England again”

The Telegraph explains when.

Fabio Capello has been advised by the Football Association that it would prefer it if John Terry, who has been accused of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, kept a low profile during the Wembley friendlies with Spain and Sweden.

And what better wya to keep a low profile than by as the Mail says:

Fabio Capello is determined to see John Terry lead out his country against Sweden despite insisting the England captain will play no part against Spain on Saturday.

Oliver Kay reports in the Times:

Fabio Capello has told John Terry that he will have the opportunity to lead England out at Wembley again after sitting out the friendly match against Spain on Saturday.
Capello has indicated that Terry will play no part in the match against Spain, but the England manager insists that this is a “football decision” rather than a reflection of investigations by the Football Association and Metropolitan Police into the player’s alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand, the Queens Park Rangers defender.

Martin Samuel, Daily Mail:

Had John Terry been just a guy at a desk in an office, he would not be allowed to work right now. That is the perceived wisdom. Maybe it is correct. Then again, had a faceless junior accountant in a nondescript cubicle at a Swindon business park been accused of racially abusing a colleague, his name wouldn’t have been on the front and back pages of every national newspaper for two weeks and counting. The police might not be involved. His future, guilty or innocent, would not have been the subject of lengthy public debate.

Continues for 400 words…

The Sun:

PAUL INCE has leapt to the defence of John Terry and insisted: He’s not a racist…

The Guvnor said: “I’ve met John and in my opinion he’s not a racist, that’s for sure. You’ve people saying he should be stripped of his captaincy — and he hasn’t even been found guilty yet.”

Case closed.

Nov 4: John Terry Race Row: A Tabloid Hoax And Applying The Principles

Nov 3: John Terry: Blaming The White Working Class For Chelsea Captain’s Trials

Nov 2: John Terry Race Row: Racist Chelsea Fans And Newcastle’s Zero Tolerance

November 1: QPR’s Anton Ferdinand Retweets His Views On Chelsea’s John Terry?

November 1: John Terry’s Racism: Matthew Syed Insults Chelsea’s André Villas-Boas

October 31: Chelsea’s John Terry Is Innocent: Daily Mail And Stan Collymore See what They Want To See On YouTube

October 30: The Hollow John Terry Racism Debate: After Cantona and Kitson, The Chelsea Captain Matters

October 29: Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand Blasts John Terry? Daily Mail Guns For Chelsea Captain

October 28: John Terry Racism Row: Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas And Arsenal’s Wenger Are Badly Wrong

October 27: Why Is The Daily Mail In A Rush To Find Chelsea’s John Terry Guilty Of (Alleged) Racism?

October 27: Chelsea’s John Terry Is Being Tried By A Vengeful Media That Excuses Racism