John Terry was banned for four matches and fined £220,000 after being found guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand, on this day in 2012.

The Chelsea captain denied the charge but a Football Association regulatory commission ruled he was guilty of misconduct during his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to QPR at Loftus Road on October 23 2011.

The 31-year-old England defender announced his retirement from international football a week before the FA’s decision and decided not to appeal against it.

An FA statement read: “An independent regulatory commission has today found a charge of misconduct against John Terry proven and has issued a suspension for a period of four matches and a fine of £220,000, pending appeal.

“The Football Association charged Mr Terry on Friday 27 July 2012 with using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Queens Park Rangers’ Anton Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2] in relation to the Queens Park Rangers FC versus Chelsea FC fixture at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011.

“The charge was the result of The FA’s long-standing investigation into this matter, which was placed on hold at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service and Mr Terry’s representatives pending the outcome of the criminal trial.”

The incident occurred in Chelsea’s defeat to QPR when the pair clashed verbally on several occasions in the match.

Terry was previously found not guilty – in Westminster Magistrates Court in July 2012 – of a racially-aggravated public order offence as the prosecution was unable to prove he had called Ferdinand a “f****** black c***” as an insult.

Terry admitted using the words, but insisted he had only been repeating words he thought Ferdinand had accused him of saying.

The FA decided to launch their own investigation of the matter which angered Terry and he announced he was quitting international football with immediate effect, saying his position was “untenable”, on the eve of the independent hearing.

Terry’s legal team had argued the governing body’s own rules dictated that his acquittal in court meant the case could not proceed but the FA decided to carry on with their investigation, stating their charge was distinct from the court charge.

The panel who handed Liverpool striker Luis Suarez an eight-match ban when they found him guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra the season before declared simply using racist language was enough to breach FA rules.

Everton have condemned “vile” racist abuse aimed at midfielder Amadou Onana on social media and vowed to track down the alleged perpetrator.

The Premier League club released a statement on Monday revealing the 22-year-old Senegal-born Belgium international had been targeted and reiterating its zero-tolerance stance on discrimination.

An investigation is under way with the Toffees ready to support police in any action they may take.

The statement read: “Everton Football Club strongly condemns any form of racist and discriminatory abuse towards our players.

“The club is aware of a racist post targeted at Amadou Onana. Such abuse is vile and will not and should not be tolerated.

“The club is conducting an investigation to identify the individual responsible and will also be supporting police with any investigation they conduct.

“We must all take a zero-tolerance stance by reporting such behaviour to social media platforms and the authorities. Racism has no place online, in our stadia or in our communities.”

Onana, a £34million signing from French club Lille last summer, played the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 4-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.

The defensive midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester United in recent weeks.