English football's wounds were reopened on Fridayat the worst possible time for the Football Association's chairman, David Bernstein, as John Terry admitted snubbing his handshake at a high-profile Uefa event to hand over the Champions League trophy ahead of the Wembley final.

It was Bernstein who took the decision to strip Terry of the captaincy after Chelsea's player was accused of racially abusing the Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand on the pitch, a decision that effectively forced out Fabio Capello as England manager.

Terry was caught on camera by Sky Sports apparently refusing to shake hands with Bernstein on what is believed to be the first time they have met since an FA panel banned the Chelsea captain for four matches and fined him £220,000.

Asked about the incident by the broadcaster, Terry confirmed that he did not shake hands with Bernstein, who will step down as FA chairman in June. He said: "Listen, it's a difficult one for me. Obviously he was the one who spoke about me in the court case and said things I don't want to talk about on air. It's probably a subject that we should maybe just avoid."

Bernstein did not appear as a witness at last year's court case, so it is assumed that Terry was talking about the FA disciplinary hearing that followed. The Chelsea captain went to Euro 2012 but later retired from international football ahead of the disciplinary panel verdict.

He was cleared by a criminal court of a racially aggravated public order offence but an FA disciplinary panel later found him guilty of racially abusing Ferdinand. Terry admitted calling the then QPR player a "fucking black cunt" but claimed he was repeating the words back to him in indignation.

Terry, no stranger to controversies involving handshakes, was appearing alongside other Chelsea players at the trophy handover event, ceremonially handing back the European Cup ahead of May's Wembley final in the presence of Uefa's president, Michel Platini.

Bernstein tried to shrug off the incident. "I didn't notice anything, my relationships with everyone in here are really fantastic so I didn't notice a thing. I think we should talk about more positive things than that sort of nonsense," he said.

Admitting his relationship with Terry was "a little distant", he said he had better things to do than repair relations. "I'm not really terribly concerned to be absolutely honest. I've got other things to think about in my last few months; I've got other priorities," he said.

Bernstein was also again forced to defend the FA's decision to kick off the FA Cup final at 5.15pm, a decision that has provoked outrage from some fans of Manchester City and Wigan who will face challenging journeys home.

He said: "There will be a number of millions more watching at 5.15pm than 3pm and that is an important factor. This is not money-driven. Always remember that any additional money raised by the FA goes to the wider football world – we are not a profit-making organisation. If we do raise more money it is going to the national game, to the grass roots."

Alex Horne, the FA general secretary, said it was talking to broadcasters about the kick-off time as part of negotiations over its new TV contract from 2014 to 2018. But the 5.15pm kick off, favoured by broadcasters, appears here to stay.

"I'm not surprised that fans want to be able to support their teams and travel but on balance we have said clearly that we think 5.15 is the right kick-off time for the final and we want to persist with that," Horne said. "We think it is right for the vast number of supporters who can watch the game on TV. We think it is right and reasonable for travelling supporters."