London – Anton Ferdinand has revealed that he was subjected to a hate campaign in connection with a racist abuse case that saw a Football Association disciplinary panel ban Chelsea captain John Terry for four games.
In his first comments after Terry was found guilty, the Queen's Park Rangers defender said on twitter that he had received abuse on the micro-blogging site since Thursday's ruling.
His family have also reportedly been targeted by hate mail since the controversial incident in October last year, which led to Terry being charged and later acquitted in a criminal case of a racially aggravated public order offence.
“On a serious note people need 2 read the facts before they send stupid tweets 2 me with liar and grass in it,” Ferdinand wrote.
Terry was cleared of criminal charges in July, although he admitted in court that he had used a racist slur against Ferdinand but said he was merely repeating what he believed Ferdinand had accused him of saying.
Despite the court verdict, the FA still found him guilty of a similar charge with their disciplinary process using a “balance of probabilities” burden of proof rather than the English criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt”.
Last year, the separate FA panel that found Liverpool's Luis Suarez guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra said simply using racist language was enough to fall foul of the governing body's rules, regardless of intent or context.
Terry, who has consistently denied all charges against him, is considering whether to appeal the FA panel's decision.
The former England captain retired from international football on Sunday, on the eve of the FA hearing, saying officials had made his position with the national side “untenable”.
He is though continuing his club career and the centre-half is available for Chelsea's Premier League match against Arsenal on Saturday, as he has 14 days from receiving written reasons for the panel's decision to decide if he wants to appeal.
He currently remains free to play for Chelsea and will continue to be so until any appeal process is completed.– AFP