Wed, 08 February 20:04

Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager.

The FA confirmed in a statement that the Italian will leave with immediate effect following talks between Capello, FA chairman David Bernstein and FA general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley on Wednesday.

“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. In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio’s resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect,” the statement confirmed.

From the tenor of Bernstein’s comments in the statement, the FA did not try to change Capello’s mind.

“We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing this is the right decision,” Bernstein said. “”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… We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future.”

Capello’s position had been called into question after he went on Italian TV to express his opposition to the FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy last week.

Terry had the armband taken away from him after it was announced that his trial for allegedly racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand would take place on July 9 – eight days after the conclusion of the Euro 2012 finals.

When asked by Rai 1 whether he agreed with the move, Capello replied: “No, absolutely not.”

He added: “I have spoken to the chairman and I have said that, in my opinion, one cannot be punished until it’s official and the court – a non-sporting court, a civil court – has made a decision to decide if John Terry has done what he has been accused of.

“I thought it was right that Terry should keep the captain’s armband. The fact that the board has decided in this way is because it falls under the competence regarding ethics.”

yahoo sport.