By Gia Saralidze, exclusively to VK
The news of the head coach of the England national football team Fabio Capello leaving his office had an effect of an explosion. Many experts, and myself among them, are astonished: how could one let such a high-ranking specialist go, especially on the eve of the European Championship? The team was deemed to be a favourite in this tournament and had a real chance of winning something decent for the first time in a decade. So is the conflict between Capello and the England’s Football Association so serious? It depends on how you treat nationalistic statements.
Capello resigned on 8 February 2012, following the FA removing the captaincy from John Terry, who was accused of racist abuse. I’ll remind you that the accusation is based solely on the words of the alleged victim, Anton Ferdinand. The court hasn’t reviewed the case yet, but the FA has already punished the ‘culprit’. Fabio Capello was a consistent supporter of Terry and was outraged when Terry was deemed guilty by the FA without a court decision.
Terry’s trial is due to take place in July, i.e. after Euro 2012 ends. So Capello wanted Terry to remain captain at least till then. But his demand wasn’t met and it lead to his resignation. The FA wrote an open letter thanking the Italian coach for his services, however, the scandal actually stopped him from achieving any great goals, even though the team was about to perform superbly in Euro 2012, at least according to the elimination games.
It is still not known who will become the new manager. Stewart Pierce became the executive manager, and he will prepare the team for the upcoming game with Holland, but it is still unclear as to whether he is one of the candidates to occupy the position permanently. Pierce will head the Olympic football team in 2012.
As for Capello, such a specialist won’t be left without a job, that’s for sure. There is a rumor that he might head Milan’s ‘Inter’.
