This is one of the new features on Ninety-Plus. Every Wednesday we will examine shocking or strange stories from the world of football.
Obviously, the biggest news coming out of England football right now is the John Terry-Wayne Bridge affair fiasco. The long and short of the story is basically John Terry had an affair with former teammate and fellow England National Team defender Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel, behind-the-back of Terry's current wife Toni Poole. When Perroncel became pregnant Terry paid for a private abortion. Terry was also reportedly paying to keep the affair secret....okay, I've caught my breathe.
The repercussions of the scandal? John Terry was removed as captain of the England squad and replaced by fellow center-half Rio Ferdinand. Wayne Bridge has reportedly told England manager Fabio Capello that he will refuse to be in the same side with Terry for future matches, which severely hinders Bridges chances of making the World Cup squad for England. Losing the captain's armband is really all that Capello really could do? A simple slap on the wrist, for Terry. He still goes to the World Cup, and the real victim in all this, Bridge, loses his chance make the World Cup. Now Terry's wife has insisted that in future he must come straight home after training, have far fewer nights on the town and agree to marriage counselling. Terry will fly out to meet with Toni in Dubai after tonight's match with Everton in an effort to safe their marriage, in the company of Toni's family no less.
Could this have any lasting effects come June 12? Possibly. Terry is likely to lose a lot of respect in the England locker room, but based on Terry's recent performances with Chelsea, I'd say Terry's on field performance won't slack off.
The major problem I have with all of this is that Terry isn't really being punished for being unfaithful, dishonest, or any other word you want to call it. Losing the captain's armband is NOT a punishment, it's Capello's way of saving face and giving the appearance of punishing Terry. What should happen is the FA coming down hard on Terry, by say, imposing a suspension of a certain amount of matches, not to exceed the the first World Cup match. I kidd, I kidd. But that would never happen, because Terry is a household name, whereas Wayne Bridge is not.
It's time for the FA to stop playing favorites with its players and dish out the appropriate punishment. But then again, we all know that they won't because they are afraid of the name and there are way to many powerful people in London who are Chelsea fans.
