Her fellow Lionesses and the Football Association have spoken out about racism following Jess’ announcement
BY NAZ SAKICI, IMAGE VIA INSTAGRAM (@_JESSLCARTER)
England’s Lionesses team member Jess Carter revealed that she is taking a “step back” from social media following the racist abuse she’s faced during the Women’s Euro 2025. Jess mentioned that the abuse has been going on since the start of the tournament.
After the game the Lionesses had against Sweden in their quarter-final on Thursday, which they won after their penalty shootout, Jess, who is biracial and queer, received racial abuse on social media after facing hardships during the match.
Posting on Instagram, Jess wrote: “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.”
Later on, the Football Association (FA) came forward to state that they are working with the police to make sure that whoever is responsible for the hate crimes will be brought to justice. “Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs,” said FA CEO Mark Bullingham. “We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism.’’
Jess’ teammates have also come forward in support of her. They declared in a collective statement: “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.”
Jess’ fiancée and professional football player Ann-Katrin Berger also reshared social posts to her stories, which showed support for Jess.
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