London - England and Chelsea captain John Terry is to face an investigation by the English Football Association over claims he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
An FA statement said Terry would be investigated after the organisation received a complaint of "alleged racist abuse" stemming from an incident in Sunday's stormy west London derby won by QPR.
"The FA can confirm it has received a complaint relating to an alleged incident of racist abuse in the QPR versus Chelsea fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011," the FA statement said.
"The FA will now begin to make enquiries into this matter. The FA takes seriously any allegations of discrimination and abuse of this type."
QPR owner Tony Fernandes said in a separate statement the club stood squarely behind Ferdinand, the brother of Terry's England team-mate Rio.
"Queens Park Rangers Football Club does not condone racism in any way, shape or form. As a club, we will provide our players with our unequivocal support when alleged incidents like this occur."
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
Read News24’s Comments Policy
24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.
Manchester United
Manchester City
Chelsea
Arsenal
An underdog
View Results | Vote Archive
43% Manchester United
7% Manchester City
32% Chelsea
9% Arsenal
9% An underdog
Vote Archive
Scrumchums asks what we can expect from the Boks this year when we get down to the business end of the test season .
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.