Tottenham 2-4 Chelsea - di Matteo on Terry race row & ban and Spurs - English premier League 2012-13
- 10 years ago
Chelsea have refused to confirm whether John Terry will remain captain after receiving a four-game ban for racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand.
Terry will miss the Blues' next four domestic games but the centre-back is eligible to play in Tuesday's Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
"You will have to wait and see," said Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo when repeatedly asked about the captaincy.
The Italian did confirm that Terry has been told of the decision.
But on several occasions he reiterated the London club's stance of not "discussing publicly the disciplinary action we take against our players".
Di Matteo added: "I understand not everyone will agree. That's not for us to discuss. We are taking action against our player and we feel it is appropriate action we have taken against him.
"We appreciate he has not appealed the ban and fine and also that he has apologised publicly for the language he used and we are supportive of that.
"He's apologised generally to everyone, including the Ferdinand family."
However, at a news conference ahead of their match against Everton on Sunday, Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes said he thought Terry would not apologise in person to Ferdinand.
"I think John Terry feels that he hasn't done anything wrong and that has been his stance," he said. "So for him to apologise would perhaps be an admission of guilt, so I wouldn't have thought he would be prepared to do that."
On the subject of the captaincy, a Chelsea spokesman, sitting alongside Di Matteo, added: "We recognise and appreciate people will want to know [about Terry's punishment].
"But it is our right as an organisation with the disciplinary process we have - it is a personnel matter, it is a HR [human resources] matter, and many organisations deal with it in the same way and we feel that dealing with it as a confidential matter is the way we should continue to go forward."
The spokesman defended the club, which has been accused of double standards
Terry will miss the Blues' next four domestic games but the centre-back is eligible to play in Tuesday's Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
"You will have to wait and see," said Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo when repeatedly asked about the captaincy.
The Italian did confirm that Terry has been told of the decision.
But on several occasions he reiterated the London club's stance of not "discussing publicly the disciplinary action we take against our players".
Di Matteo added: "I understand not everyone will agree. That's not for us to discuss. We are taking action against our player and we feel it is appropriate action we have taken against him.
"We appreciate he has not appealed the ban and fine and also that he has apologised publicly for the language he used and we are supportive of that.
"He's apologised generally to everyone, including the Ferdinand family."
However, at a news conference ahead of their match against Everton on Sunday, Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes said he thought Terry would not apologise in person to Ferdinand.
"I think John Terry feels that he hasn't done anything wrong and that has been his stance," he said. "So for him to apologise would perhaps be an admission of guilt, so I wouldn't have thought he would be prepared to do that."
On the subject of the captaincy, a Chelsea spokesman, sitting alongside Di Matteo, added: "We recognise and appreciate people will want to know [about Terry's punishment].
"But it is our right as an organisation with the disciplinary process we have - it is a personnel matter, it is a HR [human resources] matter, and many organisations deal with it in the same way and we feel that dealing with it as a confidential matter is the way we should continue to go forward."
The spokesman defended the club, which has been accused of double standards