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- Year Flashback: Tofas Joins QPR
- Three Year Flashback: Flavio Briatore re QPR: I Know What I'm Doing!
- Six Year Flashback: QPR Chairman Paladini: We Don't Need a CEO!
- 11 Years Flashback: Robbie Steiner on His Forced Retirement
- Anton Ferdinand Gets Racist Tweet
- Mackie Called Up By Scotland
- QPR Reserves Beat Reading Reserves
- Query of the Day! The Official Supporters Club A Year Ago...(Is it Still Active?)
- Football's Fight Against Racism, Anti-Semitism, Homophobia, etc Week (Fortnight)
- UPDATE: JOHN TERRY "Vs" Anton Ferdinand: Latest Stories..Who's Saying What..What's Been Revealed/Claimed
- Perhaps Slightly old news: Luke Young's Half-Brother RIP
- Guardian Gallery (Which Featured Neil Warnock last year) seeks Adel Taarabt Photoshop Cartoons
FA Updated Statement
FA Statement
Tuesday, 01 November, 2011
A further statement from The FA regarding Loftus Road incident.
Further to an allegation from the recent QPR versus Chelsea fixture, The Football Association has been formally investigating the matter.
The Metropolitan Police has contacted The FA to make us further aware of their investigation into the matter. Due to this it would be inappropriate for The FA to comment until the Police have completed their own enquiries.
Therefore, The FA will make no further comment at this tim
http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2011/fa-statement-qpr-chelsea-011111
GUARDIAN
Police launch investigation into John Terry-Anton Ferdinand incident
• Met opens formal investigation after assessing complaint
• Chelsea match marred by chants about Anton Ferdinand
Dominic Fifield
John Terry's position as England captain came under greater scrutiny on Tuesday night after Hammersmith and Fulham police launched a formal investigation into allegations that he racially abused Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea's defeat at Queens Park Rangers last month.
The Metropolitan police had spent the previous week assessing a complaint that was emailed by a member of the public 24 hours after the game at Loftus Road. Confirmation that police were starting an inquiry that could yet end in criminal proceedings was delivered shortly before Chelsea were held to a surprise 1-1 Champions League draw against Genk on Tuesday night. It was a game in which Terry was an unused substitute and it was marred by chants from sections of the travelling support.
Some among the 1,100 visiting fans were heard chorusing: "We know what you are, we know what you are. Anton Ferdinand, we know what you are." The Chelsea manager, André Villas-Boas, was unaware of the chanting at the time and declined to comment when it was related to him but a spokesman for the Premier League club later condemned the fans' reaction. "It was wholly inappropriate and we do not condone it," he said.
The Football Association's inquiry into the incident at Loftus Road is ongoing; Terry and Ferdinand have been interviewed and witness statements have been collected by the body's disciplinary and governance unit.
There had been hopes that the matter would be resolved this week, before the announcement on Sunday of Fabio Capello's England squad for friendlies against Spain and Sweden. It now seems the issue is likely to be hanging over Terry if he captains the national side for the games at Wembley.
There had been no suggestion that the 30-year-old would be omitted from the national squad as a result of being the subject of the FA inquiry, and there is nothing to prevent him from being picked now the police have launched their investigation. Capello's intention to pick an experimental squad, however, will give him a convenient reason for omitting Terry if he is minded to do so.
The FA seemed to confirm on Tuesday night that it would not rule on the matter without knowing if the police intended to bring charges against the defender. It said: "The Metropolitan police has contacted the FA to make us further aware of their investigation into the matter. Due to this it would be inappropriate for the FA to comment until the police have completed their own inquiries."
The Met are not working to any set timeframe and are likely to seek interviews with those involved. Terry admits that he used offensive words but says he shouted them as a denial, having been under the impression that Ferdinand had accused him of making a racist remark. He welcomed the FA's inquiry as an opportunity to clear his name.
Ferdinand, who was targeted with racist abuse on Twitter on Tuesday, broke his public silence on the matter this week saying he had ""very strong feelings" on the issue and was confident the FA would undertake a "very thorough inquiry" into the matter. He has submitted his written testimony to the disciplinary and governance unit.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/01/police-john-terry-anton-ferdinand
TELEGRAPH
Metropolitan Police launch investigation into allegations John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand
The Metropolitan Police last night launched a formal investigation into allegations that Chelsea captain John Terry racially abused Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.
Metropolitan Police launch investigation into race row between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand
By Jason Burt and Luke Edwards
9:00PM GMT 01 Nov 2011
Officers have spent the past few days “assessing” whether to pursue a complaint from a member of the public, who had seen video footage, following the Premier League match at Loftus Road between QPR and Chelsea and on Sunday Oct 23.
It has now been decided that, given the potential seriousness of the matter, a full investigation is required involving interviewing all parties and taking witness statements.
The police have studied hours of videotape of the match after requesting it be handed over by the broadcaster Sky, who had 20 cameras at the game. Terry has vehemently denied making a racist remark to Ferdinand.
In a statement the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were notified of an incident on Sunday Oct 23 involving alleged racial abuse. This is currently being investigated by officers from Hammersmith and Fulham.”
The police investigation will take precedence over inquiries being made by the Football Association, which has now received statements from both players. It would be expected that, by moving matters on, the police may delay the FA’s own findings but it is still hoped that the case might be resolved quickly.
All parties are also acutely aware that Fabio Capello his England squad on Sunday evening for friendly matches against Spain and Sweden.
If the police have not concluded their investigations by then, the FA and Capello will have to decide whether it is in everyone’s best interests if Terry is not selected. However, that course of action might also lead to assumptions about Terry’s guilt. If Terry were charged it is likely to be under the public order act relating to racial or religious hatred.
Ferdinand has submitted his account to the FA, and said he had “strong feelings on the matter”, adding in the statement: “In the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough inquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the inquiry is concluded.”
An FA spokesman said it would be inappropriate for the FA to comment until the police have completed their own enquiries.
However, Chelsea fans at their match in Genk chanted: “You know what you are, Anton Ferdinand, you know what you are.”
Newcastle United, meanwhile, have asked police to identify the person who racially abused striker Sammy Ameobi on the social network site, Twitter. It has also emerged that Ferdinand has been verbally attacked on the site.
Ameobi retweeted a message to his followers on Monday in which someone had called him a n-----. Ameobi added: “It’s sad some people are still racist these days.”
On Monday night, Ferdinand retweeted messages of support for his stance on the Terry allegations, but also reproduced a racist comment directed at him from someone purporting to be a Chelsea supporter. The tweet, repeating what Terry is alleged to have said, read: “RT [retweet] this you ------- black ----, 1 England captain.”
The accounts from which the comments were made have now been shut down, but Newcastle are determined to pursue the matter.
The club asked police to discover the identity of the account holder so legal proceedings could begin. A statement read: “Newcastle United are aware of a racist remark that was directed towards Sammy Ameobi via Twitter on Sunday evening. The club and Sammy have reported the matter to the police, who are now dealing with the incident.
“The racist comment is wholly unacceptable. Newcastle United will not tolerate racism of any kind and will take the strongest possible action against those responsible.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footbal....-Ferdinand.html
HAMMERSMITH COUNCIL PREPARED TO HELP CHELSEA...SO SURELY PREPARED TO HELP QPR!
Chelsea Official Site - COUNCIL RECOGNITION OF CAPACITY NEED WELCOMED
Tue 01 Nov 2011
Chelsea Football Club has today (Tuesday) released the following statement in response to an earlier statement from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham regarding the future of Stamford Bridge, which is situated within the Borough.
The statement reads:
Chelsea Football Club welcomes the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham's commitment to see the Club stay in the Borough and importantly their recognition of our need for greater capacity at Stamford Bridge.
As an initial step in a renewed dialogue with the Borough, we would like to explore promptly with LBHF how they propose helping us address the club's current problem of Stamford Bridge having substantially reduced capacity for big games.
We will be happy to meet Borough officials to discuss this further and especially their desire to see us stay at Stamford Bridge.
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham's statement read:
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is proud that our Borough uniquely contains three Premiership football clubs; Chelsea FC, Fulham FC and Queens Park Rangers FC.
In light of the recent decision by Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC to retain its freehold of the ground, we reaffirm our desire to see Chelsea FC remain in the Borough and our commitment to help the club to remain at its historic home of Stamford Bridge.
We recognise that all our clubs will need greater capacity to accommodate growth in their fan bases and that new financial fair play rules necessitate generating extra match-day revenue to remain competitive with the leading English and European teams.
We are currently assisting Fulham FC with its plans to expand the capacity of its historic ground at Craven Cottage and we have already agreed to grant planning permission for additional capacity.A new scheme is about to be consulted on.
The Council now proposes to examine whether there are planning options to expand Stamford Bridge to accommodate a larger capacity, recognising that such a project must be economically viable, benefit local businesses and not unreasonably affect residents.
We look forward to working closely with Chelsea FC and all local stakeholders as soon as possible to examine the options of redeveloping Stamford Bridge
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2501875,00.html
-Stadium.href="http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/News/Statement_on_Chelsea_FC.asp#4">Hammersmith Council
