Capello at war with FA over decision to sack John Terry

FABIO CAPELLO and the FA appear to be at war after the England manager insisted that he still considered John Terry to be the captain of England, days after the player was stripped of the armband by the governing body.

Asked if he agreed with the 14 member FA board's unanimous decision to sack Terry, Capello was unequivocal when told Italian TV station Rai 1: "Absolutely not." He then announced that he had already told his Chairman David Bernstein as much.

Terry lost the captain's armband after he was ordered to stand trial accused of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand on 9 July, days after the European Championships are due to end. Innocent or guilty, the FA decided that having such a cloud hanging over their captain did not strike the right note.

Capello, however, does not agree and, according to The Daily Mail, told Italian TV: "I considered and still consider Terry the England captain. I think we first should wait for the trial conclusion." He went on: "It's going to be civil justice, not sports justice, to decide if John Terry committed that crime he is accused of. And I thought it fair that John Terry keeps the captain's armband."

The Italian's comments have aroused concern among commentators with Euro 2012 just a few months away. The Daily Telegraph's Henry Winter feels that "whatever their very obvious disagreements over Terry, Bernstein and Capello need to put on a united front for the good of England".

The Guardian, meanwhile, says that by publicly displaying such dissent Capello risks undermining England's tournament preparations "in a manner potentially far more serious than his ill-advised commercial online venture the 'Capello Index' ever did back in 2010".

Capello's contract only has six months left to run, but his outburst could lead to calls for him to be sent for an early bath. As The Daily Telegraph put it: "His latest comments could lose him some of his few friends within the organisation. Unless some truce can be called, Capello could walk or be dismissed."

The Italian is obviously loyal to Terry and reinstated him as captain after he was stripped of the captaincy once before in 2010.

Of course, with the man widely tipped as Fabio's successor, Harry Redknapp, currently standing trial for tax avoidance, saying arrivederci to the Italian could invite even more problems. ·