John Terry: Racial Abuse Charges Against Chelsea Captain Send Loud Message

The case against Chelsea captain John Terry has taken the next step, and it's a big one.

Per a report from The Guardian, the Crown Prosecution Service has decided to to prosecute Terry for his alleged racial abuse of QPR's Anton Ferdinand during a match back in October.

Terry has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but he was caught on camera confronting Ferdinand with about six minutes to play during Chelsea's 1-0 loss against QPR on Oct. 23. The CPS claims that additional evidence came to light, apparently enough to convince them that further action was necessary.

If Terry is found guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand, he faces a maximum fine of £2,500 (about $3,900).

The actual penalty in this case is next to irrelevant. All that matters is that this incident has proceeded to a point where the authorities are ready to prosecute Terry, which is a significant development in and of itself.

It's a development that signals those who would be racist on the pitch are not just bad people, but potentially criminals as well.

This is what makes Terry's situation different from that of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, who was recently hit with an eight-match ban and a hefty fine by the Football Association for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. That incident happened on the pitch, and Suarez has been punished by being taken off the pitch.

So why is Suarez not about be prosecuted for racial abuse?

It's a legit question, and the only answer we have is that it's because nobody from the general public thought to file a complaint about Suarez's abuse. Terry is facing his current predicament because the Metropolitan police received an anonymous complaint, and the situation snowballed from there (The Telegraph has a useful timeline of the case).

Oddly enough, Ferdinand himself did not immediately paint a clear picture of what happened, though he did say in a statement that he had "very strong feelings" about the whole thing. He subsequently said that he wasn't going to talk about it anymore.

Concerning Terry's view of the incident, his explanation actually came off as being pretty reasonable. 

"I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him," said Terry, per the Associated Press.

"I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term."

As reasonable as this explanation may sound, though, the evidence at hand clearly suggests otherwise. To the CPS, it shows that Terry was fit to be charged with "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress which was racially aggravated."

Even if this incident hadn't ended up in the hands of the authorities, the FA likely would have handled the matter itself. It still could, mind you, as the FA put its own inquiry on the shelf until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings. Once this situation is resolved in the eyes of the law, the FA could easily go after Terry itself.

One way or the other, it seems highly unlikely that Terry is going to come away from this incident scot-free. An example is going to be made of him, whether it's the law or the FA that has to do it.

This example will serve to drive home a point that has been driven home again, and again and again: Racism does not belong on the pitch, nor does it belong anywhere else in sports for that matter.

It's a simple message, and indeed an obvious one. But judging from the Suarez situation and, for now anyway, the Terry situation, it hasn't quite gotten across.

And that's as amazing as it is depressing. It's even worse when you realize that the Terry situation unfolded during English football's anti-racism week. At a time when the sport was supposed to be celebrating the progress it has made, Terry was (allegedly) busy bringing the bad old days back to the forefront.

Terry may not end up being found to be a criminal when all of this is said and done. Even if he is not, his character is going to be under scrutiny for the foreseeable future. Given all that has transpired, people are going to remember what happened between Terry and Ferdinand on Oct. 23, 2011.

The question will be whether or not the message will stick. You'll know it did if racism disappears from the pitch altogether.