Adrian Dennis/AFP/GettyImagesIt's time for the distress caused by John Terry (and now, Ashley Cole) to be put to bed.

The long-awaited written judgement detailing the reasons behind the Football Association's judgement in the John Terry case has finally been published and it certainly makes for interesting reading.

At first glance, the report looks like it has been designed to prevent any chance of appeal. One of the key motivations behind any possible further legal action by Terry is to quash the image of him being a racist but the FA have been keen to point out that they don't share that, even going as far to say that they do not believe him to be so: "It is not the FA's case that Mr Terry is a racist. There is a large body of testimonial evidence, including statements from black footballers, to say that he is not."

Any complaint by Terry that they have tarnished his image would be instantly dismissed given that statement.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the report, however, involves Ashley Cole's testimony to the FA during their initial enquiries and the apparent intervention by Chelsea club secretary David Barnard. The alteration of Cole's official statement at the behest of Barnard does look rather suspicious, it has to be said. Any appeal by Terry is likely to see Cole's statements publicized still further, thus increasing the embarrassment felt by the club and the individuals involved -- especially if impropriety is shown to have taken place.

In the court of law, witness statements are often changed as memories resurface at different stages. Unfortunately for the defendant, this is not a court of law and the introduction of any doubt to Terry's defence is not going to do him any favours when the balance of probability plays the role of the hangman's noose.

However, the report is not watertight and does open the door for an appeal. For example, it relies on interpretations of body language to help bolster their verdict:

"We have watched the film footage many times. In the critical phase, during which he uses the words, Mr Terry can be seen to be smiling initially, before his facial expression changes to disdainful and contemptuous. At no point is his demeanour and facial expression that of someone who is imploring, injured, or even quizzical in the face of an unfounded allegation by Mr Ferdinand that he had just been racially abusive towards him."

From following the criminal proceedings in July, it was made clear that lip-reading is not an exact science and that context is everything. Why, then, are equally ambiguous notions about facial expression and demeanour so compelling in the case against Terry as far as this panel is concerned?

While their conclusion that Terry’s explanation is "implausible" cannot really be rebutted -- even his most staunch supporter must have had their doubts at some point -- it still remains that he has been found guilty due to supposition rather than fact. Terry has been punished by educated guesswork rather than any hard evidence.

Usually when allegations of racism surface they amount to one man's word against another. As nobody apart from Terry actually heard anything, the only basis for convicting him is whether or not his word can be trusted. His red card against Barcelona in the Champions League last season and his subsequent excuse and volte face were cited as evidence against him in the report. But how many times have you seen footballers telling referees during the match and reporters after it that "I never touched him" when that is clearly not true? Are they all liars? Of course, Terry could well be telling fibs in a bid to extricate himself from this mess but to pick a solitary example as evidence is flimsy.

All these issues will be weighed up by Terry and his legal team as they decide their next step. If he accepts his punishment then his four-match ban will begin immediately, ruling him out of big matches against Tottenham and Manchester United in the Premier League as well as the Capital One Cup tie against the Red Devils. A cynic might say that it's a good enough reason to lodge an appeal, but any further muckraking could cause further damage as well as incur an additional ban if the appeal is deemed as frivolous.

As a Chelsea fan, it would be nice if this tawdry affair was put to bed as soon as possible. It has dragged on for far too long and is taking the gloss off an excellent start to the season. Unfortunately, the likelihood of that happening (irrespective of Terry’s decision) has been torpedoed after Ashley Cole decided to call the FA a "#BunchOfTwats" on Twitter once he discovered that they questioned the veracity of his evidence.

This saga shows no sign of ending despite nobody -- including Anton Ferdinand -- emerging with any credit.

Follow Phil Lythell on Twitter @PhilLythell

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