Desailly: Terry is not a racist

Former World Cup winner Marcel Desailly believes his ex-Chelsea team-mate John Terry is not a racist.

Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy and is facing trial in July after allegedly racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

But Desailly, who spent six seasons at Stamford Bridge during his distinguished playing career, defended his former team-mate and said Terry was a natural leader.

“As for John (Terry), I know he is not a racist person,” Desailly said.

“It’s going too far (stripping him of the captaincy). Yes, the FA, who are the administration, have made a statement. What is good is that (Fabio) Capello is continuing to stick behind his players, because the player is a natural leader.”

“No matter what you do, John is a natural leader, you understand? In the group, his influence will all the time be there.”

“Why have they made the decision to take the armband from him? Yes there is a problem, we will see what will happen, but it was a bit early. But it’s their decision, and you have to respect that, they are in charge.”

Desailly also hopes that Chelsea will give manager Andre Villas-Boas enough time to make a true impression at Stamford Bridge.

The former French international said he would like to see Villas-Boas given the chance to put together a settled team, after having to deal with a series of injury problems so far this season.

“There’s a lot of work to do. I hope they will give him enough time to settle his team with no injuries, because there have been a lot of injuries – Drogba was not there, Lampard was not there, Ramires was not there,” he said.

“But at least we have to achieve the minimum, which is qualifying for the Champions League and the third position, to perform well in the current Champions League and to start the new season afresh.”

“Now we know the coach, he is competent. But he needs time, maybe a bit of luck and maybe new players, adapted to each other to be able to perform.”