体坛英语新闻：England manager Capello steps down after meeting with FA

LONDON, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The English Football Association has confirmed on Wednesday that Fabio Capello has resigned as England Manager.

This followed a meeting involving FA Chairman David Bernstein, FA General Secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.

"The discussions focused on The FA Board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview," the FA statement said.

"In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect," it continued.

"I would like to stress that during today's meeting and throughout his time as England Manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner," said David Bernstein.

"We have accepted Fabio's resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future."

A media conference with David Bernstein and the Club England Management team will take place at Wembley on Thursday at 1200 GMT.

On Feb 3, the FA decided to remove John Terry from the current captain role in England pending the outcome of his case in July, nearly one week after the European Championship.

"This decision has been taken due to the higher profile nature of the England captaincy, on and off the pitch, and the additional demands and requirements expected of the captain leading into and during a tournament," the FA said last Friday.

Terry, the 31-year-old Chelsea and England captain, was charged to have offended Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand with racist language in a league match on October 23 last year.

The 65-year-old manager was reported to have shown his disagreement to FA's decision by telling Italy's state broadcaster RAI that one couldn't be punished until the court's decision on what he had been accused of.

The shock quit of Capello was regarded as a huge blow to England team as there were only four months left before this June's big tournament.