The dust is beginning to settle following John Terry’s scandalous affair with Vanessa Perroncel and the fallout is clear for all to see.

With news that Terry will miss Chelsea’s F.A Cup tie with Cardiff this weekend in an attempt to resolve what must now be an ill-fated relationship with his wife, it is clear that poor Wayne Bridge isn’t the only victim of this sordid affair.

One has to feel sorry for Wayne Bridge.  The cuckolded footballer always seemed a bit of a pushover, having played second fiddle to Ashley Cole in the England stakes. With this latest betrayal by his so-called best friend and his girlfriend, further humiliation has been heaped upon him. 

All Bridge did wrong was choose an unfaithful girlfriend and a best friend who can’t seem to keep his tackle in his trousers.

Terry himself has also become the deserved victim of his actions. Stripped of the England captaincy in an expedient move by Fabio Capello to protect the integrity of the national side, Terry could also face serious financial ramifications for his actions.

With an estimated worth of over £17m and a yearly income of at least £7.8 million the apparently avaricious Terry could see his pecuniary losses soar to staggering levels if his attempts to reconcile his marriage fail.

This potential loss, coupled with the “Tiger Woods approach” of sponsors, who will be likely to question if the former England captain is really the role model they are looking for, means that Terry stands to lose far more off the pitch than on it.

But maybe this hasn’t been all bad for everyone. There are some positives to be taken from this scandal that could benefit a lot of people.

The lifting of the ‘super-injunction’ that had initially barred the reporting of this story is being seen as a seminal moment for privacy law in this country.

The press have become more and more exasperated by the evident buying of privacy by celebrities and the wealthy alike; therefore the decision by Mr. Justice Tugendhat to rescind the initial gagging order is being heralded as a monumental victory for the British press.

Mr. Justice Tugendhat, who had initially granted the gagging order, decided that there was not sufficient reason for the order to stand; “the nub of the applicant’s complaint is to protect his reputation, in particular with sponsors.”

The belief that Terry was merely protecting himself and his business deals clearly led the judge to conclude that the gagging order should be removed.

As well as potentially re-inventing privacy policy in the courts the affair has also had positive personal and professional connotations for many people directly and indirectly related with the story.

Vanessa Perroncel has become a household name overnight and she stands to make a handsome profit by selling her story to national newspapers. She is also surely now celebrity fodder for the bafflingly popular Celebrity Love Island and other pseudo-celebrity tripe.

In the footballing world Rio Ferdinand is the clear benefactor of the Terry’s misdemeanors. A player who many considered to be one the decline and merely now on the periphery of the England team will now lead out his country at the World Cup this summer.

As the saying goes ‘one man’s loss is another man’s gain’ and Ferdinand will have no qualms in gaining from this whole affair.

The revelations of the affair have also destroyed the relationship between Terry and Bridge and with Terry a mainstay of the England side for many years it is not possible to see a way that Bridge can join the squad in South Africa.

This opens up a space in the squad and for players such as Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock, who have probably already booked their holidays to Dubai this summer, to be called upon to represent their country at the highest level.

There is no denying that this scandal has been embarrassing for Terry and heart wrenching for Wayne Bridge and Terry’s wife, Toni Poole, especially when one thinks of the children caught up in this mess, but clearly not everyone will be rueng the day that John Terry decided it’d be a good idea to ruin his reputation for the sake of a quick leg-over with his best friend’s girlfriend.