LONDON: England manager Roy Hodgson yesterday ruled out the possibility of former captain John Terry coming out of retirement to play for his country at this year’s World Cup.
Terry, 33, retired from international football in September 2012 after the Football Association charged him with racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League game for Chelsea.
He had previously been cleared of racially abusing Ferdinand at a criminal trial and said that the FA’s decision to pursue charges against him made his position “untenable”.
He was later banned for four games by the FA over the incident and fined £220,000 ($365,000, 268,000 euros).
England qualified for the World Cup without Terry, conceding only four goals in the process, but his commanding performances for Chelsea this season have prompted calls in the media for Hodgson to reinstate him.
Terry has formed a strong partnership in central defence with current England international Gary Cahill, but Hodgson does not intend to ask him to make the trip to Brazil for the World Cup.
“John has retired and as far as I am concerned, that is the situation,” Hodgson said. AFP
