Terry fined £10,000 but escapes ban after Poll comments

England's captain, John Terry, has escaped a ban after being fined and reprimanded for improper conduct. The Chelsea captain was charged in relation to comments made about the referee Graham Poll after being sent off in the defeat against Tottenham on 5 November.

Yesterday, he withdrew his request for a personal hearing and admitted the charge. He has been fined £10,000 and reprimanded by the Football Association's Disciplinary Commission.

A statement read: "Whilst noting the late admission to the charge, and the excellent previous disciplinary record of John Terry, we were extremely disappointed that the integrity of referee Graham Poll had been called into question, and that no public apology had been forthcoming for his admitted improper conduct."

Terry claimed Poll gave conflicting reasons for the sending-off and the FA brought the charge as he was questioning the referee's integrity. Terry's remarks about Poll appeared on Chelsea's TV channel.

The FA said in a statement announcing the charge last month: "Terry claimed in an interview, which was widely reported, that Poll had given him conflicting reasons for his second yellow card, saying: 'On the pitch, Graham Poll said to me that it was for the barge on Hossam Ghaly where I just kept running. Then, after the game, he then said to me it was for the fall when me and Ledley King fell so, you know, he's obviously had a look at it, or got people to look at it and decided that's probably the best option for him and it covers every angle'."

* The FA is set to ask Fifa, the governing body of world football, to put pressure on eight agents who have so far refused to co-operate with Lord Stevens' inquiry into unauthorised payments in the game.