Scudamore: Terry case needed swift action

The Chelsea captain was handed a four-match ban and fined £220,000 ($341,962) by the FA, after an independent regulatory commission found him guilty of using racist language towards Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.

The original incident occurred in a Premier League match at QPR in October last year, meaning it took over 11 months for the case to reach its conclusion.

There is also the possibility of an appeal from Terry to come once he is in receipt of the written judgment.

Terry was found not guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court in July of a racially-aggravated public order offence in connection with the same incident.

The FA was not prepared to begin its own disciplinary process until the court dealt with the case, but Scudamore does not see why that was a necessary step.

He told England's Daily Telegraph: "The fact is, the criminal justice system has had a look at it and decided and the football system, which is a different test and I respect the fact the FA has to look at it, has also decided.

"It is very difficult, but my concern is the length of time that this takes because we have been sitting here, unable to move on and unable to get clarity. We have to work out a way of doing these things earlier.

"If the argument is that these (charges) are completely separate, irrespective of what the courts decide, if football's test is different, why can't we decide (the outcome) if it is a completely different test?

"I don't quite know why one has to wait for the other if the tests are completely different.

"It would have been much better for everybody, whether the outcome is positive or negative, if it was done quickly."