Video: John Terry stripped of England captaincy
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Terry 'set to lose captaincy'
John Terry has been accused of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand, a charge which he denies.
JOHN Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy for the second time this morning after losing the support of the FA board amid concerns over his ongoing racism court case.
The news comes two days after the criminal trial into Terry’s alleged racist abuse of Queens Park Rangers's Anton Ferdinand was postponed until after the European Championships in July.
It has been reported that David Bernstein, the English FA chairman, called Terry shortly before 10am to inform him of the decision after he had canvassed opinion amongst members of the board. It is understood the board were in favour replacing Terry.
Within minutes of the news breaking bookmaker Ladbrokes revealed the odds for Terry's successor.
Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool captain, is the odds-on favourite at 2/5, with Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper, next in at 5/1. Hart's team-mate Gareth Barry is at 8/1 while Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, Terry's Chelsea team-mates, are outsiders at 20/1 and 33/1 respectively.
"Gerrard appears the obvious choice with the odds reflecting that," said a Ladbrokes spokesman. "Should the armband be passed to another Chelsea player punters will be in for a bumper payday."
Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand has ruled himself out of the running to be named as John Terry's replacement as England captain.
Ferdinand did take over when Terry lost the captaincy two years ago but the Manchester United defender does not want the armband again.
Terry was stripped of the captaincy today until after his July 9 court case where he is accused of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother Anton, who plays for QPR. Terry denies the charge.
Rio Ferdinand said on Twitter: "I don't want to be England captain after the last episode, just want to concentrate on playin for utd&if I make the squad then as ever I'll be delighted."
