No pre-match handshakes at Chelsea-QPR clash

The Premier League has suspended the pre-match handshake at Sunday’s game between Chelsea and QPR due to the legal situation involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand.

Ferdinand’s lawyers advised him not to shake Terry’s hand — the first time the pair would have met in a Premier League match since the Chelsea captain was accused of racially abusing the QPR player in October. Terry was charged with a racially-aggravated public order offence in December last following the game. He denies the charge and has vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to clear his name in his trial, which takes place on July 9.

After taking legal advice, the Premier League last night decided to suspend the handshake convention on Sunday.

The Football Association cancelled the pre-match handshake when the two clubs met in the FA Cup in January, but the Premier League had initially insisted the handshake between the two sides should go ahead this weekend.

But with the legal wrangle, and following the Luis Suarez-Patrice Evra handshake furore earlier this year, when Liverpool’s Suarez refused to shake Manchester United’s Evra’s hand, the Premier League felt they had little option in relation to Sunday’s game after taking legal advice.