The Football Association have to find a way to eradicate from the football pitch the sort of obscene language highlighted by the John Terry trial, according to Kick it Out chairman Lord Ouseley.
The Chelsea defender was today cleared of hurling a racist obscenity at Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League game at QPR on October 23 last year.
Chief magistrate Howard Riddle cleared the 31-year-old of a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Lord Ouseley told Sky Sports News: “Clearly we are in a situation now where the regulatory body for football will have to now look at what action it has to take. There is only one regulatory body for football and it’s not the courts.”
Terry was acquitted of calling Ferdinand a “f****** black c***”.
Asked if that sort of language should be eradicated from football, he added: “Of course. That’s a matter that the Football Association will no doubt consider in due course.
“It would have already concluded its investigations and its processes had the courts not intervened through the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Their prosecution and evidence was inadequate and John Terry has been cleared of what he was charged on.
“It seems there is a problem with some men who are highly paid playing football and not being abusive in a way which is totally unacceptable and the authorities will come together no doubt in due course to try and eradicate this.”
Asked how the incident reflected on football as a whole, Lord Ouseley said: “I think the vast majority of people who play football would be offended by it and certainly people who have no relationship with football and have been reading about it and hearing about it are absolutely appalled and they asked me if that’s what goes on in football.
“I think at the highest level of football it’s got to stop because these are people who are highly-paid role models, they influence their fans.”
Asked if the verdict could dissuade players who had been racially abused coming forward in future, he said: “There is clear evidence we know that players are reluctant to come forward and raise this issue.
“It impacts on their own performance on the field, it impacts on their relationship within the club. There is a culture in the dressing room which has to be tackled, people are very fearful and do not come forward.
“We’ve got to work hard now to try and establish some credibility about the complaints’ processes to ensure they are dealt with properly.
“That means that in future the Football Association will have to carry out its own investigations, conclude its deliberations, irrespective of whether the police get involved. And I am afraid the police involvement in this case has not helped it whatsoever.”