To the surprise of absolutely nobody, John Terry has been found guilty by the Football Association of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand. Well, I say nobody. Perhaps Chief Magistrate Howard Riddle might raise a quizzical eyebrow, seeing as in a court of law he found the Chelsea captain not guilty of the same offence.

However, the rest of us know (because it has been repeated ad nauseam in the past couple of weeks) that the FA require a lower burden of proof to pass down a sentence, so the FA has dealt the Chelsea captain a four-match ban and a £220,000 fine following Terry's four-day disciplinary hearing for an Oct. 23, 2011, racial slur toward QPR's Anton Ferdinand during their Premier League match.

That, together with the fact that the disciplinary panel have a recent conviction rate that is north of 99 percent, meant that even the Teflon Don would have struggled to wriggle his way out of this one. There is little point in arguing about the justice of this decision as we all know that it stands in contradiction to the judgement passed down by the country's official legal system, yet it must be accepted because if the FA accuse you of racism then you must be guilty irrespective of any mitigating factors.

In fairness to the FA, Terry's defence was always on shaky ground, given that it was essentially one man's word against a grainy piece of television footage and all the ambiguity that that entails. With the football authorities rightly determined to expel racism from the game, they would have appeared weak and open to accusations of favouritism had they not pursued the case against the former England captain with vigour.

Nevertheless, it is easy to understand Terry's anger with the FA and that they felt compelled to contradict the magistrates court and make an example out of him, illustrating that nobody is above the law in football. In light of the player's retirement from the England national team, the organising body's chief executive Alex Horne claimed that he didn't understand why Terry held them responsible for his decision and was bemused that he was not able to separate the playing aspect from the judicial aspect. That might make sense if it were not for the fact that he was stripped of the England captaincy over this issue.

Returning to the issue of favouritism, if the FA had hoped that they had dispelled that myth, then they had not factored in the fringe of Liverpool's supporters. Since the verdict was passed down, Twitter has morphed into a boiling ferment of rage on Merseyside at the apparent discrepancy between Terry's four-match ban and Luis Suarez's eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra. Unfortunately for all those with their eyes currently popping out of their skulls and veins throbbing to bursting point, there is a crucial difference. Suarez was deemed to have uttered his offensive term on multiple occasions whereas Terry used his term once. The FA stressed that it was the repeated utterances that landed the Uruguayan in such hot water. Argument closed.

The question now is whether the Chelsea skipper will appeal. On the one hand, he has always maintained his innocence and his pride, in alliance with a fierce desire to clear his name, might push him towards that course of action. However, with mud having already stuck, personal endorsements have evaporated and are unlikely to return whatever the ultimate judgement, and everybody might be best served by moving forward.

One party that will not benefit from the verdict at all will be Arsenal. Chelsea's opponents on Saturday will line up against Terry -- fitness permitting -- as his ban will not begin for 14 days, the period afforded to him to decide whether to lodge an appeal. Arsenal's loss, however, might be Tottenham's gain with the Blues traveling to White Hart Lane on 20th October.

Wherever he plays in the meantime, outside of Stamford Bridge, will undoubtedly greet him with jeers and derision. But remember that JT is a man whose whole ethos is to confront hostility head-on, so what odds on him clearing a shot off the line and bagging the winner at The Emirates on Saturday?

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