- £6million-a-year manager resigns after publicly criticising FA board over decision to strip Terry of England captaincy
- Capello showed no remorse for his outspoken comments"
*MKILETEWA HAPA NA MISS FB*
Fabio Capello this evening quit as the manager of England's football team.
The extraordinary development comes just days after the £6million-a-year boss criticised the Football Association over its decision to strip John Terry of his captaincy due to his upcoming racist abuse trial.
During a crunch meeting with the FA today, Capello was asked to explain why he committed a serious breach of FA protocol in an explosive Italian television interview on Sunday.
Out: Fabio Capello today quit his role as England football manager during a crunch meeting with the FA;
Capello made a direct challenge to the authority of his FA employers when he told Italian TV station Rai that he still wanted Terry to be his captain.
It is understood the 65-year-old Italian did not back down and showed no remorse for his outspoken comments.
FA chairman David Bernstein, however, was furious and had expected Capello to show some contrition before agreeing to issue a joint statement that would have enabled both the FA and the England manager to move forward with a degree of unity.
Signing autographs: Capello had showdown talks with the FA after publicly criticised their decision to strip John Terry of his captaincy due to his upcoming racist abuse trial;
Let's talk: FA chairman David Bernstein is furious with Capello's outburst;
It is understood Mr Bernstein had expected Mr Capello to first inform the FA of any comments he intended to make about the sensitive issue of the captaincy, as is usual with FA media policy.
Mr Bernstein and the FA directors decided to take the captaincy off Terry while he awaits trial for a racially-aggravated public order offence, and they reached the decision without first consulting Mr Capello.
The Italian, the FA openly admit, was furious.
Instead, the manager gave an interview to Italian TV in the absence of FA media minders and had officials scrambling for an accurate translation of his controversial comments.
Asked by the TV interviewer whether he was in agreement with the decision to strip Terry of the captaincy, Capello replied: ‘No, absolutely not. I spoke with the chairman (David Bernstein) and I told him that I don’t think someone can be punished until it becomes official.
‘The court will decide. It’s going to be civil justice, not sports justice, to decide if John Terry committed that crime that he is accused of. And I thought it fair that John Terry keeps the captain’s armband.’
Hitting out: Fabio Capello told Italian TV that he didn't agree with the FA's decision to take the captaincy away from Terry;
Hitting out: Fabio Capello told Italian TV that he didn't agree with the FA's decision to take the captaincy away from Terry;
Ready for action: John Terry, who was stripped of the England captaincy, says he will still represent his country if called upon;
Bernstein spent Tuesday preparing the ground for the powderkeg summit, although there will be no going back on the decision to take the armband off Terry, 31. The FA consider it inappropriate for the Chelsea skipper to lead the national team at this summer’s European Championship when his trial does not start until July 9.
After little more than a year at the FA this is the biggest challenge Bernstein has faced. The FA do recognise that Capello has lost his conduit in Franco Baldini, now general manager at Roma, who only returns to the England boss’s side around matches and tournaments. At the very least, Baldini could have warned the FA of Capello’s interview with Rai.
Capello has been heavily criticised for his outburst, with former England boss Graham Taylor expressing surprise. He considered the comments divisive and disruptive. But yesterday Capello also received sympathy from fellow managers.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘It’s a difficult situation for both sides because when you are the manager of a team and you have a captain who is an important part of that team you don’t want to lose that. So I can understand there’s a lot of discussion and controversy about it.
‘There has to be some communication regarding the thing and I don’t know if there has been that, I must say, because I know Fabio has been abroad. But he’s back in England now and the next few days will reveal everything.’
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