Terry cleared of racial abuse

Former England captain John Terry was found not guilty of racially abusing fellow player Anton Ferdinand on Friday after a five day case which cast a spotlight on racism in soccer and could have had a huge impact on his career.

The 31-year-old Chelsea captain, who earns a reported 150,000 pounds ($231,100) a week, was in Westminster Magistrates’ Court to hear chief magistrate Howard Riddle read his verdict.

The high-profile case, focusing on foul language from both players during a Premier League game last October, triggered the resignation in February of England's Italian manager Fabio Capello after the FA decided to strip Terry of the captain’s armband for Euro 2012.

Terry had denied committing a racially aggravated public order offence when he had an expletive-littered exchange with Ferdinand on the field of play when Chelsea visited QPR.

Although, in evidence, he admitted using the highly offensive words, he maintained he was sarcastically repeating what Ferdinand mistakenly thought he had said.