Former England captain John Terry said he was not prepared to be called a racist, his trial has heard.
The 31-year-old told the Football Association a week after being accused of racially abusing Queen Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand that racism was not in his character.
Terry is accused of calling Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" during a Chelsea match against QPR on October 23 last year.
A recording of the interview was played at Westminster Magistrates' Court. Terry denies a racially aggravated public order offence.
He said: "I have been called a lot of things in my football career and off the pitch, but being called a racist I am not prepared to take. That's why I came out and made my statement immediately. I am not having Anton thinking that about me or anyone else. That's not my character at all."
The centre-half told the FA investigator Jennifer Kennedy that he was repeating back to Ferdinand what he believed he had said to him.
Terry said he thought Ferdinand was accusing him of calling him a black c***.
Terry said: "I was taken aback by that. I have never been accused of that."
Terry told the investigator that Ferdinand was shouting abuse at him over allegedly having an affair with Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge's girlfriend. Terry said he was aware how the CCTV looked to people who did not understand the context.
He added that, with all the cameras and thousands of fans present, a player would not shout racist abuse across the pitch at someone.
Source: PA
