English football's players' chief accused the game's authorities of allowing the John Terry case to "fester" after taking nearly a year to ban the Chelsea captain for racist abuse.
Chelsea centre-back Terry received a four-game ban on Thursday for racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand during a match in October last year.
The Football Association's disciplinary process was put on hold at the request of prosecutors so as not to prejudice a trial relating to the incident which saw Terry acquitted of criminal charges by a London court in July.
Gordon Taylor, chief executive of England's Professional Footballers Association (PFA), said potentially irreparable damage had been done by the FA hearing not starting until Monday.
That was a day on from Luis Suarez finally shaking hands with Patrice Evra after the Liverpool striker received an eight-game ban for racially abusing the Manchester United defender last season.
"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 Friday.
"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.
"We have to move on now and move on together and continue our focus to eradicate racism from the game and society.
"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."
Source: AFP
