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Chelsea captain John Terry shouts instructions during an English Premier League match against Arsenal on Saturday.Chelsea captain John Terry accused of shouting racial slur at opponent last monthScotland Yard and England's Football Association are investigatingTerry denies wrongdoing; his manager says he backs TerryTarget of alleged remark, Anton Ferdinand, says he's made statement to FA (CNN) -- London's Metropolitan Police on Tuesday said they are investigating allegations that Chelsea and England captain John Terry aimed a racial slur at an opposing player during an English Premier League match last month.
The Metropolitan Police, also known as Scotland Yard, launched the investigation after spending several days assessing the October 23 incident, which happened during Chelsea's 1-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers in west London.
Officials with England's Football Association also are investigating the claims.
Video footage posted on the Internet appeared to show Terry, who is white, shouting a racist comment at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, who is black. But Terry denied wrongdoing, saying people have "leapt to the wrong conclusions about the context" of the remark.
Terry said Ferdinand, during the match, first inaccurately accused him of using a racist slur before Terry shouted "what I was seen to be saying" to Ferdinand.
"I thought Anton was accusing me of using a racist slur against him. I responded aggressively, saying that I never used that term. I would never say such a thing, and I'm saddened that people would think so," Terry, a Chelsea central defender, said in a statement released after the match.
Ferdinand on Monday said he had given a statement regarding the matter to the FA.
"I have very strong feelings on the matter, but in the interests of fairness and not wishing to prejudice what I am sure will be a very thorough enquiry by the FA, this will be my last comment on the subject until the enquiry is concluded," Ferdinand said in the statement released by his club.
Chelsea's manager, Andre Villas-Boas, said last week that the incident was a "misunderstanding," and that he fully backs Terry.
"(Terry) is confident about it and he spoke to Anton after the game," Villas-Boas said, according to Chelsea. "Anton was present in our dressing room and for us it was an end of story. It is just a great misunderstanding and it is blown out of all proportion."
The Metropolitan Police released this statement Tuesday: "Police were notified of an incident on Sunday, 23 October, involving alleged racial abuse. This is currently being investigated by officers from (the London borough of) Hammersmith & Fulham."
FA officials said Scotland Yard contacted them "to make us further aware of their investigation into the matter."
"Due to this it would be inappropriate for The FA to comment until the police have completed their own enquiries," an FA statement read.
Piara Powar, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, told "CNN World Sport" last week that English football officials must act quickly if they are to prevent the Premier League's reputation from being tarnished.
"With the TV coverage comes a global awareness of what's going on in English football," he said. "If you look at the markets the Premier League is particularly interested in -- Asia, Africa, the U.S. -- these are not places that take to seeing racial abuse on the field of play amongst the assets very well."
CNN's Phil Black contributed to this report.
New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly talked to the press about the officers' indictments.