Taylor: Terry case divided football

Players' chief Gordon Taylor has claimed the length of time taken for the Football Association to deal with the John Terry case has caused divisions which may never be healed.

The Professional Footballers Association is to seek talks with the FA in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the dragged-out case, with the union's chief executive Taylor saying the affair had been allowed to "fester" for too long.

"Almost 12 months on and the John Terry case was still not heard by the FA until the day after Luis Suarez shook hands with Patrice Evra at Anfield," Taylor said. "Such a delay has allowed the matter to fester and cause divisions in the football family which will take a long time to heal - if they ever do."

Chelsea centre-back Terry was banned for four matches on Thursday for using racist language towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in October last year and Taylor called for the game to move on and to continue to eradicate racism.

"We have to move on now and move on together and continue our focus to eradicate racism from the game and society," he said.

"There should be new educational processes for all players - young and old, and for managers and directors.

"There should be equitable recruitment processes, and a fast-track disciplinary process that does not allow for delays or holding off at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service.''

The FA had delayed their own disciplinary hearing until after the magistrates court case - where Terry was acquitted - at the request of the CPS.

A PFA statement read: "The time it has taken for a decision to be reached in this case, nearly 12 months, has benefited no one.

"We will be speaking with The FA to seek changes to their disciplinary processes to ensure cases are heard more quickly."