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England defender Jess Carter has been subjected to racist abuse throughout the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament, prompting the Football Association (FA) to alert the police and take urgent action.
The 27-year-old Chelsea player, who has featured in every match so far for the reigning champions in Switzerland, announced she would temporarily step away from social media in order to concentrate on the remainder of the competition.
In a statement posted online, Carter said she had been on the receiving end of “a lot of racial abuse” since the tournament began. While acknowledging that fans are entitled to express opinions about performances, she condemned the targeting of individuals based on their appearance or ethnicity.
“As a result of this I will be taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with,” she wrote.
The FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said the organisation had swiftly contacted UK police after learning of the abuse and is committed to ensuring that “those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice.”
Ahead of their semi-final clash with Italy on Tuesday, the England squad announced they would not take a knee to mark the fight against racism, stating: “It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism.”
Head coach Sarina Wiegman offered her full support to the player, stating: “I stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.”
This is not the first instance of England players being racially abused online. Teammate Lauren James was targeted in 2023 following a Chelsea defeat, while male internationals Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Jadon Sancho received a wave of online abuse after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
UEFA, the governing body of European football, issued a message of solidarity with Carter, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned the incident on X, writing: “There is no place for racism in football or anywhere in society.”
