Chelsea vs. Queens Park Rangers: John Terry Allegations Cast Shadow over Derby

We've been here before. In the build-up to a match involving Chelsea against a London rival there is a great deal of attention on whether or not a player will shake the hand of John Terry.

The last time it happened, Wayne Bridge refused to engage in the pre-match pleasantries with the England captain and his erstwhile friend after a rather unseemly scandal that cost Bridge his place in the England squad and Terry—temporarily, at least—the armband for his country.

This time, however, the situation surrounding Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Queens Park Rangers is a lot more serious.

Terry is currently under police investigation following allegations of him racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, something he vehemently denies. The 26-year-old will reportedly seek advice from his club and others close to him over whether or not he should shake Terry's hand in the event that both of them play this weekend. Both managers, Mark Hughes of QPR and Andre Villas-Boas of Chelsea, have both pledged to not let the cloud which hangs over this fixture affect their team selections.

The allegations were not made by the younger brother of Terry's long-time England colleague, Rio, himself but by members of the public who were watching the October clash in television.

Despite that, a small section of the Chelsea support has taken to reciting a rather unsavoury chant about the QPR defender.

As such, the atmosphere for Saturday's cup clash—which is once more at Loftus Road—is likely to be poisonous. On the advice of the Metropolitan Police, the kickoff has been moved to midday, and the chairmen of both clubs have appealed for calm ahead of the London derby.

Remember, Chelsea chief Bruce Buck is the man who said in the run-up to another London derby that came just six days after the first QPR clash: "We are all Chelsea fans and I can only hope that, on Saturday, we all get together, support this club and beat the crap out of Arsenal." It is a mark of how serious this current situation is that there is no chance of any such bullish pre-match trash talk this week.

The FA Cup draw is one piece of scheduling which has served to exacerbate the situation, but another has come from a much higher power. Next Wednesday there will be a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court to determine whether or not Terry should face a trial for his alleged offence. 

According to a Sky News report, Terry will not be present at that hearing, but his solicitor will submit a not-guilty plea, while teammate Ashley Cole and former managers Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho have all registered their intent to speak in defence of the central defender. The same report details that the maximum penalty from that court is a £2,500 fine.

Since the incident in the Premier League clash at Loftus Road on October 23 last year—in which QPR won 1-0 after their more illustrious neighbours were reduced to nine men—we have had the case of Luis Suarez abusing Patrice Evra settled. The Liverpool striker is currently serving an eight-match ban handed to him by the FA along with a £40,000 fine, but at no time was the law involved.

The difference in the Terry-Ferdinand case is that, because of the police investigation, the FA are not able to act and the press are not able to comment until that is taken care of. 

This is relevant because the QPR-Chelsea match will overlap Liverpool's own fourth-round tie against Manchester United, which kicks off at Anfield at 12:45 p.m. and in which United have also said Evra will feature. 

Usually a pair of cracking marquee fixtures such as these would have the FA crowing from the rooftops, joyously hyping up the double-header with liberal sprinklings of that famous cliche, "the magic of the cup."

Sadly, this weekend the governing body will just be grateful to get this unfortunate double-header out of the way and see the cloud currently overshadowing their flagship competition lifted.