Alan Shearer believes that the dispute between the Football Association and manager Fabio Capello over the John Terry racism row needs to be resolved in order to focus on the forthcoming European Championships.
The Italian boss has found himself in hot water after publicly defending Terry following the FA's decision to strip the Chelsea centre-back from the England captaincy due to a pending trial.
The 31-year-old is due to face charges of allegedly racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand a week after the Euros this summer.
"It's not nice," Shearer told Sky Sports News. "I'm surprised it's been aired in public.
"We all don't know the full facts of what has been said or what has been done but I think the sooner it can be resolved the better it will be for everyone because let's not forget there's a European Championship in June that England need to do well in."
Reports have claimed that the fall-out from this incident has forced Capello and Terry to re-consider whether to quit the national side altogether.
"I'd be surprised if that was the case," Shearer added. "Let's not forget, playing for England is a tremendous honour. Managing England, I'm assuming, is a great honour for him.
"We have to put our country first and we have to try and resolve issues, then look forward to the football side of things to try to do well, because we need to."
Terry's trial will commence on July 9.
