Against the backdrop of John Terry's disciplinary hearing with The Football Association for the alleged racial abuse of Anton Ferdinand, much debate has emanated regarding the wider issues of racism within the sport.
Whilst Terry was found guilty of using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park
Rangers' Anton Ferdinand, which included a reference to colour and/or race, many have suggested that racism is a widespread problem, with the inclination that it is an incessant disease manifesting itself within the sport.
In the past 12 months there have been a number of issues that have brought this argument to the forefront of people's minds.
Luis Suarez, the Liverpool striker, was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra, the Manchester United defender, in a league game at Anfield last season -a week before John Terry, the Chelsea captain, was alleged to have racially abused Anton Ferdinand, the Queens Park Rangers defender.
These two cases alone brought such unwanted attention to a sport that has, we are lead to believe, worked tirelessly to rid itself of this type of incident.
The outlook is very different to how it once was. Gone are the days that, in this country at least, black players are be subjected to the abuse that is so evident in countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Spain.
But how far have we actually come?
As children, we are told by our elders to 'speak up' if we are bullied, in the knowledge that those responsible will be dealt with accordingly. But, if the aforementioned cases are anything to go by, why on earth would you put yourself through what Evra and Ferdinand have had to endure?
For having the temerity to make an official complaint of racist abuse against Suarez, Evra finds himself on the receiving end of insults and boos every time he faces Liverpool. Similarly, Ferdinand is roundly booed by Chelsea fans and has received bullets in the post. This abuse has extended to his brother Rio, the Manchester United defender, and other family members who have received death threats.
There is a lot to love about football but there is an awful lot to loathe. It is a sport that is riddled with such hypocrisy and run by organisations that cause offence to the word organisation.
Remind yourself briefly of the uproar in this country when, despite receiving an almost unbeatable 'technical bid' to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018, the tournament was awarded to Russia with England finishing fourth in the voting process.
Remember the finger pointing? Remember the accusations? Remember The FA getting on their soap box and highlighting the flaws within FIFA and citing Russia's record of racial discrimination?
Cast your mind back to whenever England players have been subjected to racial abuse while away on international duty playing in Spain, Poland, Ukraine... the list goes on. Remember the reaction of The FA? Remember how they insisted that FIFA and UEFA take this issue seriously? Remember how we scoffed at the paltry fines and sanctions that were given?
Now think how hypocritical this all sounds when, yesterday, The FA finds John Terry guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand and serves him with a four match ban and a fine of £220,000.
The stage was set for The FA to take the lead and show FIFA, UEFA and the world just how intolerant they are of such discrimination, but they failed horrendously.
Regardless of the differences in the Suarez case, where he was banned for eight games and fined £40,000, this punishment will not act as a deterrent.
It will not inspire those from grass-roots level upwards to speak up against racism. It will not make players, at any level, feel any more protected and it will certainly not make people believe they belong to an organisation that takes racism seriously.
By ignoring the wider ramifications of such a weak sentence, The FA have once again shown that, on the balance of probabilities, they are one of the most spineless governing bodies in the world.
As the news of John Terry's retirement from international football filtered through last night, it was The Football Association that were the subject of fierce criticism.
Whilst there can be no doubt that The FA have approached Terry's impending disciplinary with a huge amount of reluctance, the timing of his retirement shows a distinct level of arrogance.
Every player has the right to retire, this is not for discussion, but when a player decides to call time on his international career a day before an FA disciplinary hearing, citing the situation as "untenable", it shows the making of the man.
Today's FA disciplinary hearing is into the "alleged reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Anton Ferdinand, the Queens Park Rangers defender. It is not, as many have wrongly suggested, a hearing into whether Terry racially abused Ferdinand.
It is ludicrous that this has taken so long to be heard by an FA disciplinary panel. Notwithstanding the fact this was the subject of a court case, The FA have had months to deal with this issue since Terry was cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand at Westminster Magistrates' Court in July.
In his statement, the Chelsea captain, said: "Pursuing charges [when] I have already been cleared in a court... has made my
position untenable. Representing and captaining my country is what I dreamed of as a boy and it has
been a truly great honour. I have always given my all and it breaks my heart to
make this decision."
From the opening comment in his statement, Terry seemingly believes that he is beyond reproach for his actions. This is unforgivable and obscenely arrogant.
The FA have a duty to the sport and its reputation to run the rule over any incident(s) that they deem brings the game into disrepute. It is astounding that Terry, or whoever has advised him, has dressed this up as a witch-hunt.
What makes this statement even more deplorable is that an FA hearing into the events at Loftus Road last October was inevitable. So much so that, as soon as the Police became involved and it was the subject of a legal dispute, The FA said that any hearing would be conducted following the conclusion of the court case.
Regardless of the fact that Terry was cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand, his actions warrant an FA hearing - if only for a 'bringing the game into disrepute' charge. With the very public court case, in which the entire football fraternity had to endure, there can be little doubt that the image of the game was tarnished.
Whilst we shouldn't forget that Terry has been a colossal figure at times for England, he is also someone who epitomised the spirit England fans expect from their players. You don't win 78 international caps for being an average player. However, with the same token, we also shouldn't forget that he has been stripped of the England captaincy twice. This is not the record of a role model.
Terry's statement also suggests that because he has been cleared in court then that should be it and that he should not be answerable to an FA hearing. You may wonder how that kind of decision would go down on Merseyside, with Liverpool losing their striker, Luis Suarez, for eight games last season after being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra, the Manchester United defender.
Although there are slight differences in the two cases, The FA would be pilloried should they show anything but a consistent approach to these issues.
However, in delaying the date for Terry's hearing, The FA have shown a complete lack of authority and have forced Roy Hodgson, the England manager, into inheriting a problem that should have been put to bed months ago.
Whilst many will respect Terry's decision to retire and his reasons for doing so, it is difficult to see beyond the comments of a man that appears so reluctant to face the consequences of the actions that brought such shame on both him and his sport.
As summer ends, and the memory fades like sunburn, there are those already predicting gloom. They are the same people, who predicted washout, cock-up, grid lock and overkill, and they will be just as wrong. It was the best summer ever, precisely because we feared the worst.
The above was a quote from Ben Macintyre which was featured in The Sunday Times. It perfectly encapsulates the summer of sport that the nation has just witnessed and why we, as a nation, should be justly proud to be British.
This has been the beauty of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics. We have seen the best of the country and a unified sense of patriotism which is so often reluctantly shown for fear of causing offence.
It has "opened our minds to what people can do and to what can be achieved by sheer talent and determination", as Lord Coe so exquisitely put it. We have seen sport and disability in a way we could not have imagined.
It has made the governing bodies of national sports, most notably The Football Association, pledge to learn from the Olympics and sustain the Olympic spirit. This, though, is where Macintyre's prediction of gloom and being wrong feels slightly out of touch.
Whilst parallels can be drawn between football and the Olympics on the simple basis that they are both sports and forms of entertainment, there is a fundamental flaw affecting this sustained mantra of Olympic fever.
That fundamental flaw is, quite simply, The FA.
This weekend will serve as a reminder to all of the ineptitude of an organisation that has been treading on egg shells for far too long.
On Saturday afternoon, Queens Park Rangers welcome Chelsea to Loftus Road in the Premier League. It will become yet another fixture between the two sides in which a handshake, or not, will take prominence over the actual result in what is fast becoming a Punch and Judy type sideshow between the sides.
For the minority unfamiliar with previous events, John Terry the Chelsea and former England captain, was accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, the QPR defender, during a league meeting between the two teams almost 12 months ago.
In July of this year, after a very public court case in which details published only helped tarnish the sport, Terry was cleared of racism against Ferdinand. Less than two weeks later, having relinquished any form of disciplinary action until the legal dispute had run its course, The FA charged Terry with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Ferdinand. Terry predictably denied the charge and requested a private hearing.
With Terry and Ferdinand both reportedly winning their races to be fit for the match, one can't help but think that The FA are crossing their fingers in the hope an injury to one, or both, will spare their blushes.
It is fast approaching a year since that incident took place and, in that time, the sport has never been allowed to move on from this sorry saga yet The FA have appeared alarmingly apprehensive in trying to bring this matter to a justified conclusion.
Their laissez-faire approach to issues that are both damaging and distracting to the sport make their gestures to 'learn from the Olympics' seem extremely empty.
So while our Olympians and Paralympians, our 'games-makers' and armed forces and the Great British public have helped make London 2012 "the best Olympic Games ever" and a platform for other sports to build upon, an afternoon at Loftus Road will highlight the stark reality of how far football has to go to reach the standards set.
According to many news wires, Scott Sinclair was expected to complete a £6.2m move from Swansea City to Manchester City at some stage this week.
However, reports today suggest that a move has stalled. What a blessing this could be for the career of the young winger.
Should the move be completed, Manchester City would become his tenth club, including loans, at the age of 23 but it would potentially signal the end to his dreams of becoming an England regular.
Having been at the Liberty Stadium for just over two years, enjoying promotion from the Championship in his first season and a superb debut season with the Swans in the Premier League, it seems as though Sinclair has found the right club.
A player with undoubted ability and attacking flair like Sinclair will always attract interest from top clubs, so it is no great surprise that Manchester City are trying to prise him away from Michael Laudrup's side.
The proposed transfer would represent a huge moment in the 23 year-old's fledgling career, potentially a defining moment.
A move to the current Premier League champions would give Sinclair the opportunity to realistically compete for trophies on all fronts and compete in the UEFA Champions League, as well as the obvious increase in financial reward.
The attractions, whether they are financially motivated or not, are there for all to see and appreciate. The question, and it is a serious one, is how realistic his chances of playing regular first team football would be at Eastlands.
Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, has already spoken of the need to find a replacement for Adam Johnson having let the England international complete a transfer to Sunderland last week.
By virtue of Johnson's lack of first team football, Mancini's comments suggest that Sinclair would arguably be the latest player to be warming the bench for the Citizens.
Sinclair wouldn't be the first or last player to be attracted to a bigger stage. It is a recurring theme, like a moth to flame, that has affected and continues to affect many a career.
Yet the reported breakdown of this deal is surely a blessing in disguise.
At Swansea, he is a first team regular which instantly enhances his chances of breaking into the England squad. Some may argue that it is the very fact that he plays for Swansea that is preventing his progression to the international scene. It is a double-edged sword, but with Roy Hodgson now the manager of the national team, consistent performers for club will most probably be rewarded with a call-up, regardless of the stature of the club.
Whilst Sinclair may be ruing the fact that a move to the champions could desert him, it is something that he could well be thankful for in years to come.
Having made the difficult decision of relieving Kenny Dalglish of managerial duties at Liverpool, the appointment of Brendan Rodgers attracted many cynical comments.
There was the obvious criticism that Liverpool, the five time European Cup winners, should be recruiting someone more high profile than a man whose only experience of top flight football was with Swansea in the Premier League last season.
Although the expansive brand of football that Rodgers had Swansea playing saw them finishing just five points behind Liverpool, his appointment still drew derision from fans.
Remarkably, Liverpool fans were adamant that Dalglish should have remained at the helm despite the win ratio during his tenure being less than 10% better than the under the much-maligned Roy Hodgson's stewardship.
Many would argue that Hodgson was denied time to settle as manager because he wasn't the fans' choice. The calls of "Dalglish" from the Kop soon told the board who they wanted.
Having won the League Cup and reached the final of the FA Cup, eventually losing to Chelsea, it was the eighth placed finish in the Premier League that saw Dalglish's time as Liverpool manager come to an end.
With Rodgers sworn in and wanting to have his new team playing in the style that saw his Swansea side attract many plaudits, his foray into the transfer market saw him bring in two players that he had previously managed in Fabio Borini and Joe Allen.
The two signings only served to bring more negativity in certain quarters with many, like Rodgers' appointment, seeing it as a decline in the club's ability to attract high quality personnel.
Following their opening day defeat, a 3-0 loss away to West Bromwich Albion, the early cynicism resurfaced. The knee-jerk reactions were already apparent on the terraces and on radio phone-ins.
Today, they entertained Manchester City at Anfield in a match that many predicted would see a second straight defeat for Liverpool. How wrong they were.
Although it ended in a 2-2 draw, with both City goals being defensive lapses, the Anfield faithful will be encouraged to see their side play with such tempo and tenacity that the current Champions struggled to contain them.
Joe Allen, pulled the strings in a three-man midfield and was awarded the Sky Sports Man of the Match award for his efforts. It was a performance to silence the critics and to alleviate the pressure on the team and Rodgers.
After a terrible opening day, perhaps Rodgers' work on the training ground is starting to come to fruition.
Earlier this week Roy Hodgson declared that John Terry would be included in England's World Cup qualifying squads for the games against Moldova and Ukraine.
The reason this was even seen as news is due to The Football Association's protracted dealing of Terry's independent hearing over charges he used a racist slur against QPR's Anton Ferdinand in a Premier League game last October.
Terry, who denies the allegation, was cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand by a magistrates' court in July. Weeks later and having waited for the legal case to run it's course, The FA charged the Chelsea captain with using "abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour" towards the QPR defender.
Almost a month has passed and the football fraternity is still to learn what sanctions will be bestowed upon Terry.
It is a farcical situation and only adds to the weight behind accusations that The FA are inept at dealing with the big decisions in football. They also display a complete lack of consistency in the speed in which these matters are dealt with.
Luis Suarez, the Liverpool and Uruguay striker, was banned for eight games and fined £40,000 in December of last year for "using insulting words" towards Manchester United defender, Patrice Evra. The ban and fine was delivered less than two months after the incident, which occurred on 15th October 2011.
Unlike the incident involving Terry and Ferdinand, the inquiry into the Suarez/Evra race row required intricate study of numerous camera angles to ascertain what had been said and, indeed, whether it was insulting.
Rio Ferdinand, the Manchester United defender and older brother of Anton, was charged by The FA on 30th July with improper conduct following a comment made on Twitter. Another user labelled Ashley Cole, the Chelsea and England defender, a 'choc ice' for supporting Terry in his court case.
By re-tweeting the comment, a derogatory term meaning black on the outside, white on the inside, Ferdinand was seen as endorsing the slur.
Within three weeks, Ferdinand was found guilty and fined £45,000.
Given the speed in which the latter two cases have been dealt with, serious questions need to be asked of The FA as to why it is taking them so long to deal with such a high profile case which has only served to tarnish the sport and the Premier League's reputation.
By virtue of the fact the case was subject to a legal investigation, any hearing held by The FA was always going to be delayed; but there are many who feel that The FA were too weak in allowing Terry to delay the court case until after Euro 2012.
The delay lead to Hodgson having to make an awkward selection for his Euro 2012 squad which ended up with Rio Ferdinand omitted from the squad, despite the initial reassurance that having both Terry and Ferdinand involved would not be divisive.
Last week, the situation became even more embarrassing when Hodgson openly stated that he hopes Terry is cleared of any wrongdoing as he wants him available for selection.
Although this comment was ill-advised and subsequently criticised by Lord Ouseley, chairman of anti-racism organisation Kick it Out, perhaps it shows the complications that a prolonged hearing is causing the England manager.
The inquiry involving Suarez was far more complex, not least because the insult aimed at Evra was spoken in his native tongue. The charge brought about by The FA set a precedent, but the longer they take to make a decision on the Terry/Anton Ferdinand saga, the more people will begin to wonder how equipped they are at making a stance on such a imperative issue.
Manchester United's 3-2 home win against Fulham this afternoon saw Robin van Persie score on his full debut and Wayne Rooney ruled out for a month following a nasty looking injury.
Rooney, who was introduced as a second half substitute, was carried off following a challenge from Fulham striker, Hugo Rodallega, and Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted that his striker will be out for four weeks.
Whilst it may sound absurd in the aftermath of such a key figure of United's attack being ruled out, this could be a welcome relief for Ferguson as he looks to shape a team that has had little time to gel since the arrival of van Persie.
On Monday night, against an inspired Everton side, United looked devoid of creativity which wasn't helped with an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation, eventually succumbing to a 1-0 defeat. Shinji Kagawa, signed from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, was the only outfield player who came out of the game with any real credit after showing promising touches in an advanced role.
United's formation in the defeat to Everton lacked width and penetration. Rooney, at the forefront of the attack, struggled to have any impact on the game and looked visibly fatigued midway through the first half.
The injury to Rooney in today's game will allow Ferguson to re-assess his first choice eleven without the media glare that would ensue if a fit Wayne Rooney was overlooked.
It was a peculiar move to opt for a 4-3-3 against Everton given the time it took to come to fruition when Cristiano Ronaldo was at the club. Perhaps it suggested that Ferguson was looking for a way to accomodate a front three of Rooney, van Persie and Kagawa at some stage. The early signs did not look good.
With Rooney now out for a reported four weeks, Ferguson will be able to mould a side with van Perise, the Premier League's top scorer from last season, as the focal point.
Ferguson's main gripe from the defeat at Goodison Park was the lack of service to van Persie after his introduction midway through the second half. Given United lacked any real width and looked lacklustre in the final third, this was no real surprise on the night.
Kagawa, whose talents are best utilised in a role just off of the striker, has all the attributes to supply van Persie with goal scoring opportunities. Today's formation of 4-4-1-1 at Old Trafford suggested that this may well be the preferred look with natural width across a four man midfield.
Whilst United fans may have cause for concern and rival supporters may be rejoicing at the lay-off for Rooney, this could well prove to be just what the doctor ordered.
It is still less than two weeks from the curtain closing ceremony of the London Olympics, not that you needed reminding.
Since then sport, notably football, has been read the "follow the Olympic example" mantra and it shows no sign of abating.
There is no doubting that it is a credible mantra. The world has witnessed one of the most memorable Olympics of recent times and the feel-good factor generated across the UK was evident for all to see. The nation shared the elation of success and the disappointment of failure with the athletes, recognising the personal sacrifices made by each and every athlete who had given everything to win an Olympic medal at their home games.
Admittedly football does need to clean up its act after a season which was overshadowed by racism rows. Although the quarter-final defeat to Italy signalled the end of England's Euro 2012 campaign, it also signalled the start of the much anticipated court case involving John Terry, the Chelsea captain and former England captain.
The whole court case, read out in front of the entire nation, was an embarrassment to the sport and for all the organisations that have been working so tirelessly to rid football of racism. Whilst Terry was cleared of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, the QPR defender, the language used was deplorable and is still subject to a Football Association hearing.
Whether The FA determine Terry's comments to be worthy of a fine or ban remains to be seen. Quite what Roy Hodgson, the England manager, was thinking by pleading with his employers for Terry to escape punishment we may never know. For such an intelligent man to even entertain the question of Terry's potential penalty was unwise, but not fatal.
The opening week of the new football season has, thankfully, shown an awful lot of good. For entertainment, there are few sports that can compete.
The euphoria that swept the nation during London 2012 was of such magnitude because everyone was supporting the same team and one can only hope that the same level of support is maintained for Team GB in the Paralympics.
Following the example set by the Olympics may prove to be difficult in the short term, but there is no reason why the success of one sport should shackle another.
