England’s Jess Carter targeted by racist abuse during Euro 2025

England defender Jess Carter has revealed she has been the target of “a lot of racial abuse” during Euro 2025.

The 27-year-old, who has started all of the defending champions’ matches so far in Switzerland, said she will take a step back from social media to focus on the rest of the tournament.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said his organisation “immediately contacted UK police” as soon as it was made aware of the abuse and vowed to ensure “those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice”.

The England team said instead of taking a knee they would remain standing before Tuesday’s semi-final against Italy, adding: “It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism.”

Writing on her social media accounts, Carter said in a statement: “From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. Whilst 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.

“As ever I am grateful for all of the support from the genuine fans but I am taking this measure to protect myself in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team any way I can.

“Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so that others won’t have to deal with it.

“We have made some historic changes with this Lionesses squad that I am so proud to be a part of and my hope is that by speaking out about this it will make another positive change for all.

“I’m now looking forward and focusing on putting all of my energy into helping my team.”

England next travel to Geneva to face Italy in the last four.

A team statement, posted on the Lionesses’ official X account, read: “We stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.

“No one should have to endure such vile abuse, be that in football or any walk of life.

“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.

“We hope the game can come together to see what more can be done. For now, we will return our total focus to an important semi-final.

“In the meantime, we know the FA are working with UK police and the appropriate bodies. Those behind this online poison must be held accountable.”

England boss Sarina Wiegman added: “I stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.”

Bullingham said the FA’s priority was “Jess and giving her all the support she needs”.

He added: “We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism.

“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.

“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.”

England men’s players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted by racist abuse in the wake of the team’s Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy.

UEFA added its support to Carter, saying on X: “We stand with Jess. Abuse and discrimination should never be tolerated, whether in football or society, in person or online.”

Published: 20/07/2025 by Radio NewsHub