LONDON (AP) ― A British parliamentary committee will investigate racism in sports following a number of high-profile cases in soccer.

England captain John Terry will appear in court next month to face a criminal charge after allegedly directing racial abuse at a black opponent while playing for Chelsea.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during another Premier League match in October. Liverpool also had to apologize to an Oldham player who was reduced to tears by insults from their fans during an FA Cup match on Friday.

The culture, media and sport committee will hold a hearing on March 6 to listen to people involved in the recent cases.

“It is worrying that there does appear to have been a number of incidents recently,” culture, media and sport committee chairman John Whittingdale said in a phone interview. “The hope that racism on and off the pitch in football was a thing of the past has been shaken by some of the incidents that have occurred. This is obviously something we regard very seriously.

“The committee felt it was right to look at the whole issue to establish what is being done to counter (racism) and what more might be done.”

Terry is due to appear in court on Feb. 1 to face a criminal charge after allegedly racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League match in October.