English FA Condemn Online Abuse Directed At Defender Jess Carter

The England women’s football team has announced a shift in its stance on pre-match anti-racism gestures, revealing it will no longer take the knee before kick-off. The decision follows disturbing revelations from defender Jess Carter, who shared that she has been subjected to sustained racial abuse throughout the European Championship in Switzerland.

The 27-year-old opened up about the hateful messages she has received since the tournament began, explaining that the attacks have crossed the line from criticism into racism.

“From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse,” Carter said in an Instagram post. “While I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don’t agree or think it’s OK to target someone’s appearance or race. As a result of this I will be taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with.”

The FA has confirmed it is working with authorities to identify those responsible. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham condemned the abuse, stating: “As soon as we were made aware of the racist abuse Jess received, we immediately contacted UK police. They are in touch with the relevant social media platform, and we are working with police to ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice.”

He continued: “Regrettably, this is not the first time this has happened to an England player, so we had measures in place to allow us to respond quickly and where possible provide information to support any potential police action. We will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done to prevent this abhorrent abuse.”

Carter’s team-mates have rallied behind her. The Lionesses released a collective statement saying: “Representing our country is the greatest honour. It is not right that while we are doing that, some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin. Until now, we have chosen to take the knee before matches. It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism. We have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kick off on Tuesday.”

The statement added: “Those behind this online poison must be held accountable.”

_{Featured Image Credit: Instagram / @lionesses, Instagram / @_jesslcarter}