There was only one thing that was going to happen at Turf Moor after the high court lifted an injunction on media reports of John Terry’s private life.

Fortunately for the England captain – at least that’s what he is for the time being – he didn’t score an own goal and earn a red card in a frustrating defeat but bagged the winner as Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table.

But clinching three points at Burnley may only provide temporary respite for Terry. The fallout from the allegations that he had an affair with the ex-girlfriend of England team-mate Wayne Bridge look set to continue over the coming days and weeks.

 

It must be clarified that at this point, nothing has been proven but the claims will throw Terry’s captaincy for this summer’s World Cup into doubt.

Those defending the centre-half will argue that his private life and professional life should be kept separate and demanding his omission from the England squad is going too far. But others will take the view that if someone can treat their wife and children in this way, then they are not fit to represent their country at the world’s biggest sporting event and it’s a matter for public interest.

If the reports are true, then obtaining a gagging order in the first place will only inflame the situation. But dropping a player for their behaviour during their own time would mean Fabio Capello would barely have a squad left. Team-mate Ashley Cole’s conviction of speeding over 100mph – an offence that could easily have put lives at risk – is possibly worse than any antics Terry was or wasn’t up to.

However the captaincy is something that will be brought into question. To be a captain you need to be a leader with integrity and an ambassador on and off the pitch. He has been a towering influence for club and country for years and nothing that has gone on behind the scenes has affected his performances so far but now that it’s out in the open that could change. And it wasn’t just any woman at the centre of the allegations – it was somebody who had a history with Terry’s colleague and it could be very difficult for some players to question their trust and faith in him.

Perhaps too much is being read into it and everybody in the squad will back him to the hilt. But any disharmony in the dressing room will threaten unity and could cause the team to self-destruct, playing into the opposition’s hands. This is something that will play on Capello’s mind when he decides whether or not to take the spotlight away from Terry.

Or perhaps, in the event of proven guilt, he will try and salvage any dignity he has left and make the decision for Capello by handing over the armband himself. More importantly than the World Cup is how the whole story will affect the people central to it and why sports personalities do these things when they are in such a privileged position. It goes on in all walks of life and of course sportsmen and women feel pressure like everyone else. Look at the German goalkeeper Robert Enke and how he suffered from extreme depression regardless of how fortunate he was to make a living from playing top level football. But cases like that of Tiger Woods and the allegations surrounding Terry appear to be more of an abuse of their position than a wall of stress that can be suffocating. If Terry is guilty and stripped of the captaincy, he can have no-one to blame but himself.