Villas-Boas: Terry incident at QPR was a ‘misunderstanding’
Villas-Boas issues backing for Terry as FA charges Chelsea with failing to control players in QPR defeat
André Villas-Boas has leapt to the defence of John Terry in the wake of allegations of a racist slur against Anton Ferdinand during Chelsea’s defeat at QPR.
Terry was on Tuesday waiting to discover if Ferdinand would lodge a formal complaint against the England captain after police confirmed they were assessing an anonymous public complaint.
But the Chelsea manager claims the issue is now over and has given his backing to Terry, who has vowed to clear his name.
“He has put out his statement and we fully back John,” Villas-Boas told a news conference. “John is a player who [represents] this country to the highest level internationally. He is a player of great responsibilities.
“He said to me the incident was a big misunderstanding. That’s why he put his statement out straight away.
“I find it strange when people don’t trust the words of a representative from your country.”
“The clubs are in touch with each other and for us the matter is over. We have full backing for our player and for us it is the end of story.”
Meanwhile, the Football Association has charged Chelsea with failing to control their players against QPR and has asked Villas-Boas to explain comments made about referee Chris Foy after the game.
The Chelsea boss branded Foy’s display as “very poor” after the Blues had two players, José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba, sent off at Loftus Road.
The FA is to decide on Wednesday whether to charge the Portuguese coach with improper conduct. Villas-Boas will face a fine or touchline ban if he is charged and subsequently found guilty.
But asked if he regretted his post-match comments on Tuesday, Villas-Boas replied: “No, not at all. For me it is pretty clear, there are mistakes that have been done.
“Of course the FA want to speak to me regarding things I said after the game, but I will reiterate once again that the same criteria was not applied for both teams.
“That is why I find it extremely unfair, in terms of the refereeing decisions, because if you take one rule you have to stick to it for the rest of the game to show that you have a pattern in what you are doing, and I have full evidence now that wasn’t the case. So I will stick to what I said.
“It is a game refereed by humans and human mistakes were present. That’s why I’m disappointed. I don’t think it is fair.”
