FA to strip Terry of Eng captaincy: report

London: John Terry will be stripped of the England captaincy for a second time amid the race row surrounding the Chelsea skipper and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, according to widespread reports.

A decision could be made before the Premier League returns to action this weekend, with Fabio Capello currently abroad and the FA keen to avoid another race saga following Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra's altercation earlier in the season.

Terry's trial date for his alleged offence has been adjourned until after Euro 2012, meaning that he would be free to play if Capello wished to take him to Ukraine and Poland.

FA chairman David Bernstein met with several members of the FA board on Thursday, including Sir Dave Richards and Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, and it is thought that most of the members present pushed for a swift decision as to not impact the England national team's reputation.

According to the BBC, Bernstein is set to meet the 31-year-old on Friday morning to tell Terry in person that he is to be stripped of the captaincy.

Terry's maximum criminal punishment is a £2,500 fine, a small portion of his weekly wage packet at Stamford Bridge but losing the England armband is likely to irreparably affect his image within the game.

The defender was previously stripped of the captaincy after reports alleged he had been involved in an affair with Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend while the two were team-mates with Chelsea and England before being given the armband back in early 2011.

Wolves midfielder, Emmanuel Frimpong took to Twitter to vent his frustrations at the FA, questioning if Ferdinand had been the accused and in the England squad, would the governing body have taken so long to reach a decision.

The on-loan Arsenal man said via Twitter: "wanna no if Anton Ferdinand was in the England team and was being charged for racism would the FA wait till the summer to charge outoforder."

With much of the spotlight set to be on him this weekend, Terry may not be able to play against Manchester United on Sunday due to a persistent knee injury.