The Football Association is set to remove the England captaincy from John Terry, the BBC has learned.
FA chairman David Bernstein has spoken to board members and the majority view is Terry should be stood down. He would still be available for selection for the national team.
It would be the second time Terry, 31, has been stripped of the captaincy.
He is due to stand trial in July over racial abuse allegations after an incident with QPR's Anton Ferdinand.
The Chelsea defender has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge.
Bernstein is expected to speak to England manager Fabio Capello about the issue on Friday. An official announcement could be made before the weekend.
Capello has until now maintained the position that Terry is innocent until proven guilty and that he should be free to select him as his captain until his trial is over.
There is some nervousness among board members as to how the Italian will react, with some fearing he will see it as undue interference in team affairs.
But there is now an acceptance among the FA hierarchy that the matter should be taken out of his hands.
The FA has been forced to act after Terry's case was adjourned until 9 July - a week after the Euro 2012 finals end - ensuring that the affair will dominate the build-up to the championships.
For some time now Bernstein has been growing increasingly concerned at the FA's position on Terry.
Some board members have lobbied him to take decisive action to ensure the FA is not accused of being weak on racism.
Black players within the England squad have also been putting pressure on the Professional Footballers' Association to take a stronger stance on Terry.
This is believed to have also played a part in forcing the FA to act.
Terry was previously stripped of the captaincy when Capello removed him from the role in February 2010 following allegations he had an affair with an England team-mate's ex-girlfriend.
Terry was reinstated 13 months later with Capello saying "one year of punishment is enough".
Former FA chief executive Mark Palios questioned why the FA is set to change its stance on Terry, having kept him as captain since the allegations were first made in October.
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "What the FA has to do is a balancing act between the rights of the individual and the wider game. I don't know how that will affect the dressing room and make it better than it was by keeping him in the squad but taking the captaincy off him."
Mark Perryman, of the England supporters' club, told 5 live it was difficult to understand why the case was taking 10 months to come to court.
"The court case should have been dealt with immediately," he said. "As a result the FA have got themselves in an incredible tangle of him playing but not being captain.
"Mark Palios is right to question what has happened in the last 24 hours to make the FA act."
SOURCE:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16866149
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