Schrodinger's racist

It’s a strange state of affairs when John Terry becomes an example of quantum physics. Just as Schrodinger’s cat is both alive and dead, John Terry is currently both innocent and guilty, the only difference being that John Terry hasn’t been locked inside a box…not yet anyway.

Last season the only trend of the footballing world was the snood, but since its ban from the game it’s been replaced by never ending sagas. We’ve had by the hour reports on the non-movements of Carlos Tevez - “yep, he’s still here” - the minute since he refused to play in September. Arsenal need a left back, Manchester United need a midfielder, Fernando Torres isn’t scoring, Andy Carroll isn’t scoring, Jack Wilshere is still broken, Joey Barton did a tweet, the referee is a wanker, Liverpool are racist, ‘Arry hasn’t paid his taxes, the same stories are being regurgitated in our faces every day, and now we know that the John Terry saga will not end before July.

Boyz n the Snood

Luis Suarez made his racist remarks only a week earlier than John Terry and was banned and fined in December, so why such a delay for Terry? The two incidents are very similar yet there is a huge contrast in results, is this purely because John Terry is English? Would he have already have been banned if there wasn’t an international tournament this summer? It would be cynical to suggest that the FA are protecting John Terry so he can play in Euro 2012 but what other reason would they have to delay the decision?

The build up to last week’s fixture between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea focused solely on whether Anton Ferdinand would shake John Terry’s hand, and in the end the FA stopped everyone shaking hands. This week Chelsea play Manchester United and we were all poised for another dreary will they won’t they shake hands episode as John Terry was set to face Anton’s brother Rio, though an injury has forced him out. Had he played it would be reasonable to assume the FA would ban handshake formalities again, preventing Rio from making a statement had he chosen to do so. The phrase “help, help, I’m being repressed” comes to mind.

Is this going to be a common occurrence for the rest of the season? Are the FA going to ban any situation where John Terry could look like a dick? Or will they introduce situations in which he’ll look like a hero? Maybe they’ll buy him some Jay-Z albums and find him some best friends who are black. Maybe a team mate has a black wife he could have sex with. All possibilities the FA are considering.

The FA’s first act of protection came today in stripping John Terry, not of his clothes, but of his captaincy. It may only be an armband and the seat next to the driver on the team bus to you, but to some people the captaincy is a big deal, it’s an honour. Only after criticism from the media that John Terry could captain England to a trophy and then be found guilty of racial abuse did the FA deem any action necessary. “Punishing” John Terry now will placate the media and the public to an extent, alleviating some pressure and criticism from Terry. It’s not a punishment at all, it’s a tactic to make John look like a stand up guy, he’s done his penance, so we needn’t cry for it anymore.

Even so, it’s a temporary punishment at best, he’s not even been dropped from the team, he’s lost the captaincy once before so what’s stopping him from being reinstated in six months time? If England miraculously win Euro 2012 and he’s then found guilty will people care that he’s a racist? He’ll be a hero in some people’s eyes, he already is to Chelsea fans. Come the autumn we could have a tax dodging manager and a racist captain (not that the rest of the team are model citizens though), would this matter to anyone? Luis Suarez’s ban only spurred Liverpool fans to be racist themselves and boo Patrice Evra for not being anything other than overjoyed by Suarez’s comment; While Chelsea fans chanted “you know what you are” in reference to Anton Ferdinand earlier this season.

Whether John Terry is found innocent or guilty is somewhat irrelevant because there will be fans who will see him as nothing but an angel, they’ll do a “Liverpool” and adopt his attitudes, the stereotypical football fan is like that, irrational and illogical. They can’t see the truth, only an opposition to their opinion. Like it or not, footballers ARE role models and a single sentence has ignited a whole new wave of racism in football. It might not be believable, but it might be nice to see John Terry buying a Jay-Z album or sleeping with a team mate’s black wife.