London:
Move over Tiger Woods there is a new scandal in the sporting world. Chelsea and England skipper John Terry not only cheated on his wife but he did it with his best friend's girlfriend. If these allegations are correct, he could lose more than 50 million pounds in a divorce settlement and he may even be stripped off the England captaincy.
News of the world claims that the Chelsea and England skipper had an affair with French model Vanessa Per-ron-cel while she was dating his former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.
It gets worse as the paper claims that Terry reportedly paid 20,000 pounds or about Rs 15 lakh for Per-ron-cel to have an abortion.
The alleged affair has had a pretty big backlash with some opinion polls clearly indicating that fans don't want Terry to lead England in the World Cup which is now 5 months away.
The English sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe has also got involved. He said, "On the field John Terry is a fantastic player but to be the captain of England you have wider responsibilities for the country. If these allegations are proven then it does call into question his role as captain."
If the allegations are indeed proven true then the England captaincy is the least of Terry's worries. Reports suggest that wife Toni has already taken their two kids to Dubai and is now looking for a divorce lawyer.
Chelsea meanwhile are sticking to Terry as captain while the English Football Association has said that the decision on the national captaincy rests solely with team manager Fabio Capello. He has a tough one - does he go for football merit or off the field virtue.
Per-ron-cel's verdict though could be the defining factor. Her publicist claims that at least 6 media companies are bidding up to 250,000 pounds to get her to tell the story.