Terry's out! England captain 'to lose armband'... and injury will rule him out of United clash

By Charles Sale for MailOnline and Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail Updated: 04:38 EDT, 3 February 2012

John Terry is expected to be stripped of the England captaincy for a second time after the 14-strong FA board held emergency talks on Thursday.

Although Terry is believed to retain the support of Fabio Capello - who will be free to name the centre half in his Euro 2012 squad - the captaincy decision is set to be taken out of the manager's hands.

Big call: John Terry could be stripped of England armband

Capello is abroad and the FA could move today to end the frenzied speculation over Terry's England role, with the player's trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand adjourned this week until July 9 - eight days after the Euro 2012 final.

Terry, who returns to Chelsea training on Friday, is struggling to be fit for Sunday's Barclays Premier League match against Manchester United after missing the 1-1 draw at Swansea. He has a knee injury that requires further rest.

In the meantime the debate about his future rages on, with FA chairman David Bernstein taking soundings from his board and pressure mounting to act quickly. Last night there was growing support among FA directors for the compromise solution of Terry remaining in the team but no longer wearing the armband.

Court case: Terry and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand

Some on the board are adamant the FA, with their strong anti-racism agenda, cannot go into a major tournament led by a player facing trial for racist behaviour, even if Terry has denied the charge.

Bernstein was at the Premier League chairmen's meeting in London yesterday with FA general secretary Alex Horne. They discussed the issue with the Premier League trio on the FA board, Sir Dave Richards, David Gill and Phil Gartside. Talks have also taken place with the national game representatives and the two new directors, Heather Rabbatts and Roger Devlin. 

Capello has been the staunchest supporter of Terry, restoring him to the captaincy last year after he lost the role early in 2010 over an alleged affair with the former girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge.

Support: England boss Fabio Capello had backed Terry

The FA had wanted to let the legal process take its course in the hope it would be completed long before England's first Euro 2012 match, against France in Ukraine on June 11, so allowing them to leave all team decisions to Capello.

But the postponement of the trial, because of witness availability, has scuppered such hopes. FA board members are nervous. They fear that suspending Terry from international football, and so forcing him to miss Euro 2012, would set a dangerous precedent.

The FA came under more pressure to act on Thursday with Ferdinand's brother, Rio, appearing to be express his views on the situation in a cryptic tweet. He wrote: 'Morning world!! I feel insulted....woke up with a bad taste in my mouth ....its a god damn joke!'

Family matters: Anton's brother Rio Ferdinand piled pressure on the FA

Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong, at Wolves on loan, tweeted: 'Wanna no if Anton Ferdinand was in the England team and was being charged for racism would the FA wait till the summer to charge? outoforder.'

QPR manager Mark Hughes spoke of his anger at losing Anton during pre-season due to the July 9 court date.

He said: 'It's bang in the middle of pre-season when ideally I would want my player available.

'It has been dragging on for ever. I would have preferred it to be done and dusted by now. I think everybody would.'

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.