John Terry: Sun Says QPR’s Anton Ferdinand Wants To Shoot Chelsea Captain John Terry

JOHN Terry Race Row: Anton Ferdinand shoots a gun; Ashley Cole speaks; and Rio Ferdinand tweets against the FA:

The Sun spots Anton Ferdinand, the QPR defender at a paintballing do. Below a photo of the player dressed in a mask and wielding a paintball gun, the Sun declares:

“Ferdinand may have enjoyed taking a few pot-shots a his Rangers mates. But no prizes for guessing who he really wanted in his sights…”

Is it Nelson Mandela? Noel Edmonds? The Queen?

The Sun knows. It can read Ferdinand’s mind. How’s that for talent? As far as we know, Ferdinand has offered no new evidence on the matter that is being investigated by the police. He says he never heard Terry says the words “f**ing black c***” until he saw the footage on YouTube. Still, if the police can get the Sun’s writers into the interview suite they can read Terry’s mind and find out if he really is innocent, as he claims.

The Express, Matthew Dunn:

THE ad hoc turmoil surrounding John Terry’s selection for England is mainly of the players’ making after the FA’s attempts to set a strict moral example came unstuck eight years ago.

Terry is not under investigation for his morals. He’s under investigation for an alleged race hate crime.

Alan Smith was sent home after it emerged he had been arrested over a bottle-throwing incident while his replacement James Beattie was allowed to stay, despite still serving a community sentence for drink-driving. As a result of the fiasco, Trevor Brooking was asked to form a policy by former chief executive Mark Palios. He held a meeting in January 2004 with Gary Neville and David James among others but amid unrest from the senior players, the international committee failed to reach a conclusion. The talks didn’t get anywhere,” a source revealed. “The FA immediately set about trying to sort out the situation but it just wasn’t possible with so many potential scenarios.” So in 2008 when Steven Gerrard faced assault and affray charges – they were later dropped – the official stance was: “The position would only change in the case of a conviction for a serious criminal offence.”

Well, quite.

Which suggests that Terry could still play on Saturday even if he is arrested and charged before the game – although he denies all allegations of racism.

Does anyone sensible think he will be?

Daily Mirror, Darren Lewis:

Rio Ferdinand has entered the John Terry race row by accusing the FA of dragging their heels over the controversy. The Manchester United defender tweeted yesterday: “Powers that be do make stands on certain issues I see.” before adding the hashtag ‘selective’.

The FA had to stop its investigation because the police stepped in. What is Ferdinand’s point?

The Sun: “Ashley Cole is forced to see cops”

Forced? That implies that he’s reluctant.

ASHLEY COLE has been ordered by Chelsea to talk with cops about the John Terry race row.

This is an ongoing police investigation.

Furious police chiefs contacted the club yesterday, demanding they did more to help with investigations into claims Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand.

Police chiefs? More than one top policeman is working on this case?

A source said: “Police have been dismayed at the lack of evidence that has come from Chelsea. They have made it clear to the club that senior players who were out on the pitch have a responsibility to reveal what happened. Ashley won’t be the only one — others players will be forced to give evidence as well”

Not forced by Chelsea, no. The players will be invited to give their statements to the police.

Chelsea immediately told England defender Cole — and other senior team-mates — to go to police and tell all they know about the incident at Loftus Road on October 23.

What utter bilge. Chelsea do not own Ashley Cole. They employ him. Police would contact him directly. And do Chelsea or its player have any lawyers?

It was claimed Cole went into the QPR dressing room after the game and asked Anton to have a word with Terry. A Rangers source revealed: “Anton went to see JT, who explained some video footage made it look as though he had said something racist. Anton, who at that stage didn’t really know what JT was talking about, said everything was fine.”

Such are the facts…

Nov 8: Chelsea Captain John Terry’s Race Row: Ian Wright Gives A Masterclass In Stupidity

Nov 7: John Terry Race Row: Death Threats, Anton Ferdinand For England And Hiding In Sweden

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