Scudamore - Terry case took too long

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes the Football Association could have dealt with the John Terry racial abuse case more swiftly than they did.

The Chelsea captain has been handed a four-match ban and fined £220,000 by the FA after an independent regulatory commission found him guilty of using racist language towards Anton Ferdinand. The original incident occurred in a Premier League game at QPR on October 23, meaning it took over 11 months for the case to reach its conclusion.

Scudamore told the Daily Telegraph: "It is very difficult, but my concern is the length of time that this takes because we have been sitting here, unable to move on and unable to get clarity. We have to work out a way of doing these things earlier."

There is also the possibility of an appeal from Terry to come once he is in receipt of the written judgment.

Terry was found not guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court in July of a racially-aggravated public order offence in connection with the same incident.

The FA were not prepared to begin their own disciplinary process until the court dealt with the case, but Scudamore does not see why that was a necessary step.

He said: "If the argument is that these (charges) are completely separate, irrespective of what the courts decide, if football's test is different, why can't we decide (the outcome) if it is a completely different test?

"I don't quite know why one has to wait for the other if the tests are completely different.

"It would have been much better for everybody, whether the outcome is positive or negative, if it was done quickly."