Fabio Capello has reopened old wounds with the Football Association by claiming that John Terry should still be playing for England. The FA’s decision to sack Terry as captain of the national team – following allegations of racist abuse – clearly still rankles with the former England manager, who resigned following the decision.

Asked on Wednesday if Terry should play for England again, Capello said: “He is one of the best. They [England] haven’t got a lot of defenders but they sometimes have problems. It’s better to have a player like John Terry than not have him. But I don’t think he has the chances to play with the national team any more.”

“They [the FA] decided he could not play with the national team and I didn’t understand because he was not guilty,” Capello said. “When it happened I said to the president [then FA chairman David Bernstein], ‘You decided he’s guilty? No, he’s not guilty’. “I fought for this and they said, ‘No, you can’t decide about the player, you need to wait for the court decision and everything’. I said, ‘Why have you decided before I’ve asked you?’”

Capello, who is now managing Russia, was happy to praise some members of the England squad who started their international careers under his tutelage. “I saw some young players that played with me are improving,” he said at the Laureus world sports awards in Shanghai. “Chris Smalling is playing, Phil Jones. I’m happy because a lot of players I put in the national team are playing now and well. Ashley Young is also playing really well.”

At the time of Capello’s resignation, Terry was awaiting a court verdict on charges he had racially abused Anton Ferdinand in a game between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea on 23 October 2011. Ferdinand had alleged that Terry called him a “fucking black cunt”, charges that Terry has always denied. The Chelsea captain was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence on 13 July 2012.

However, by that point, he had already been stripped of the England captaincy. He was later found guilty by the FA of “using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2]”, for which he was fined £220,000 and banned for four matches.

Terry accepted the charge and issued an apology for “the language used in the game ... [that was] not acceptable on the football field or indeed in any walk of life.”