'John Terry's defence was improbable' says FA, Ashley Cole reacts with controversial tweet

The panel which found Terry guilty said that his defence - that he did use the words attributed to him but that he was repeating what he thought Anton Ferdinand had said and accused him of saying – was “improbable, implausible and contrived”.

Free from the ‘shackles’ of having to find Terry guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, as the law in this country is required to, the FA found that Terry’s evidence and version of events did not add up.

Rather than uttering the words ‘black cunt’ as a repetition of what he thought had been said to him, the FA decided that “A much more plausible and likely explanations is that Mr Terry was angry: angry at Mr Ferdinand’s taunting and provocation of him, angry at the way the match had gone, and angry at the way in which it seemed likely to end. The much more likely explanation for what he said is that all of this provoked him into saying [the words].”

Terry still has the option to appeal the FA’s finding but is yet to make a decision.

Terry's Chelsea teammate Ashley Cole tweeted a response to the judgement, that was, at the very least unambiguous.

Hahahahaa, well done #fa I lied did I, #BUNCHOFTWATS

— Ashley Cole (@TheRealAC3) October 5, 2012