• Real Madrid manager defends his former captain '100%'
• 'I never felt racism in my dressing room' says Portuguese
The former Chelsea manager José Mourinho has defended John Terry over his four-match ban for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Terry has also been fined £220,000 by a Football Association commission who found him guilty of racial abuse during Chelsea's defeat to QPR at Loftus Road in October 2011.
"He's not a racist – that's 100%," Mourinho told CNN. "We had a squad where we had 12 African players in the squad. It was a fantastic squad and he always had a great relationship with every one of them."
The Real Madrid manager, who had three successful season with Terry as his captain at Stamford Bridge, added: "But in football it can happen during a match, because football sometimes is more than a game and sometimes you have reactions that don't represent what you are really.
"Probably he had a racist comment or attitude against an opponent. Sometimes in football we do things the wrong way. If he had that reaction he should pay – but please don't say he's a racist. [Didier] Drogba, [Claude] Makelele … all of them will say he's not a racist.
"I never felt it [racism] in my dressing room. And I have always had African players in every one of my teams."
Terry has 14 days from receiving the written reasons for his suspension to lodge an appeal against the decision.
The chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, Gordon Taylor, has claimed the length of time taken for the FA to deal with the John Terry case has caused divisions in the game which may never be healed.
Taylor said the delay had caused the issue to "fester" within football and called for the game to move on and to continue to eradicate racism.
"Almost 12 months on and the John Terry case was still not heard by the FA until the day after Luis Suárez shook hands with Patrice Evra at Anfield," said Taylor.
"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."
The FA had delayed their own disciplinary hearing until after the magistrates court case – where Terry was acquitted – at the request of the CPS.
Read more... John Terry is not a racist, says former Chelsea manager José Mourinho
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