Anti-racism campaigners slam Terry’s belated apology in Ferdinand row

London: Chelsea captain John Terry’s belated apology, after 361 days uttering racist words to Anton Ferdinand, has angered anti-racism campaigners and senior black players at the official response to the case.

Terry will retain the Chelsea captaincy and could lead the side as early as next Tuesday after he finally apologised for racially abusing QPR defender Ferdinand almost a year ago and announced he would not appeal against the four-match ban handed down by the Football Association (FA). There was also anger at Chelsea`s response, in which the club announced that they had taken disciplinary action against Terry in addition to the domestic ban he will now serve, but declined to reveal the details. Lord Ouseley, chairman of Kick It Out, whose annual week of action starts this weekend, said Chelsea should have made the punishment crystal clear and called on the club to help heal the rifts in the game opened by the affair. According to the Telegraph, Terry is believed to have been penalized up to two week’s wages by the club, a maximum of 440,000 pounds, in addition to the 220,000 pounds of FA fine. After accepting the FA ban on Thursday`s deadline for any appeal, Terry will now miss the Premier League match at Tottenham on Saturday, back-to-back games against Manchester United in the league and the Capital One Cup, and a league match against Swansea City. However, Terry will be available to travel to Ukraine next week for the first of the two Champions League games against Shakhtar Donetsk. In a statement, Terry had apologised to everyone for his use of the offensive phrase, but did not specifically mention Ferdinand and re-stated his disappointment at the FA finding him guilty. ANI