John Terry overlooked for punditry role over race-row

The fallout from the race-row which John Terry was suspended for in 2012 has cost him a punditry gig with BT Sport, writes Stephen Barry.

Terry was banned for four matches, fined £220,000 and stripped of the England captaincy by the FA for racially abusing then QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

BT Sport were interested in hiring the Aston Villa defender as part of their Champions League coverage, according to The Times, but abandoned the idea over concerns that Anton’s brother Rio wouldn’t work with him.

Rio had been left out of England’s Euro 2012 squad by Roy Hodgson – after Fabio Capello had already quit as manager due to a disagreement with the FA over removing Terry as captain – prompting speculation that the decision was taken to avoid tension between the centre-backs ahead of Terry’s trial, where he was acquitted.

The feud also ended the Ferdinands friendship with Ashley Cole, who supported Terry in court.

BT have since signed Terry’s former Chelsea and England teammate Frank Lampard.