Jay Bothroyd has called on the FA to clamp down on racism as they continue their investigation against John Terry.
QPR wants FA to make a statement if Terry found guilty
QPR striker Jay Bothroyd has called on the Football Association to clamp down on racism as they continue their investigation against John Terry.
The Chelsea captain was accused of racially abusing Hoops defender Anton Ferdinand during last Sunday's west London derby, sparking an FA enquiry into the incident.
And if Terry is found guilty, Bothroyd believes the FA must take a firm stance, not only to maintain the credibility of their anti-racism campaign but also because he has experienced the effects of such abuse himself.
"We can't influence the FA, who have to deal with the situation," he told the
Evening Standard. "They have campaigns like Kick It Out and if they deem that to be racist then they need to deal with it.
"There is no place for racism in football. There's an ongoing case that I don't want to go into but I was racially abused when I played for Perugia in Italy and there were a few black players who got it worse than I did, because I'm of a mixed-race background.
Hurtful
"It was hurtful. You've heard monkey chants, you've seen Samuel Eto'o suffer when he was in Spain and Italy, and it is quite sickening to know grown men can do that to a player.
"Another time I experienced it on the pitch was when I was playing in an England Under 19 game in Poland. There was racist abuse there but you have to be professional because if you react, then you're in the wrong."
And Bothroyd is confident Ferdinand and his QPR team-mates are focused on the job at hand as they prepare for Sunday's trip to Tottenham, which is live on
Sky Sports HD1.
"Anton has been very professional," he added.
Professional
"He's not shouting about it or causing a scene. He's sticking to his job, which is training and playing for QPR, he has been very focused on that and that is all he can do.
"This is something we can get through and put it in the back of our minds. We don't want to be talking about this sort of thing every day.
"We want to be talking about the next match we're playing, what's happening in training and how we can do better as a team. Hopefully this can be put to bed. "
QPR issued a blanket ban on questions regarding the allegations during Friday's pre-match press conference with manager Neil Warnock.
