John Terry squares up with Anton Ferdinand
BBC
John Terry's Football Association hearing over his part in an incident last season with QPR defender Anton Ferdinand has started at Wembley.
Terry is alleged to have used "abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour" in the 23 October match.
The Chelsea captain, who denies the charge, announced his England retirement on the eve of the hearing.
In July Terry was cleared at Westminster Magistrates' Court of racially abusing Ferdinand.
But he was charged by the FA two weeks later.
The hearing in front of an FA independent regulatory commission [IRC] is expected to last two or three days and will examine the FA charge against Terry, which includes an accusation that he also used "a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race" of Ferdinand.
Ferdinand arrived at Wembley at around 09:00 BST. Terry, who has 78 caps for England, is represented by George Carter-Stephenson QC, who defended him in court two months ago.
The IRC requires a lower burden of proof than applies in the English and Welsh courts.
At July's trial the court heard accusations that Terry had insulted Ferdinand, describing him as "black" and using extreme sexual swear words.
In reaching a not guilty verdict, chief magistrate Howard Riddle stated it was "possible that what was said was not intended as an insult but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him".
The prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Terry had used the words in an insulting manner, which it could not.
But the FA only has to prove its case "on the balance of probabilities".
On Sunday, Terry said the FA's decision to pursue charges against him meant his position with England had become "untenable".
However, FA general secretary Alex Horne insisted the player's disciplinary hearing was entirely separate to his England prospects.
"It's a personal decision. I don't see how we've made it untenable - they're two very separate processes," he told Sky Sports News.
"It's something that happened in a match. It shouldn't be taking a year to resolve but we feel we're reaching a conclusion on that.
"That's a very different process from our England procedures. They sit in different compartments and I could separate the two in my mind, but it doesn't look like he could."