On a day Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp was found not guilty of tax evasion, it is hard to imagine that news could be upstaged. But it sure was as England coach Fabio Capello quit suddenly Wednesday evening after meeting with FA officials over the decision to strip John Terry of his England captaincy.

The FA issued a statement late Wednesday: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England Manager. This follows a meeting involving FA Chairman David Bernstein, FA General Secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium. The discussions focused on the FA board's decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello's response through an Italian broadcast interview. In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio's resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect."

Capello openly criticized on Italian TV the FA's decision to dump Terry as England captain. Terry faces criminal charges of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand. The court case is scheduled for this summer.

“I told [Bernstein] that I don’t think someone can be punished until it becomes official,” Capello told RAI. “The court will decide. It’s going to be civil justice, not sports justice, to decide if John Terry committed that crime that he is accused of. And I thought it fair that John Terry keeps the captain’s armband.”

The shock move leaves the FA scrambling to find a successor, only four months before the start of Euro 2012. The popular favorite to replace Capello is none other than Redknapp.