Lionesses to stop taking the knee after Jess Carter suffers ‘vile’ racist abuse | OneFootball

England’s players have said they will not take the knee before Tuesday’s Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy after defender Jess Carter was sent “vile” and “abhorrent” racist abuse online following their quarter-final win over Sweden.

The Football Association (FA) confirmed they are working with UK police and the relevant social media platforms, while Carter said she would be “taking a step back” from social media as a result of the abuse she has received throughout the tournament.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer sent his support to Carter and said: “There is no place for racism in football or anywhere in society. I stand with Jess, the Lionesses, and any players who have suffered racism, on and off the pitch.”

In a statement, the Lionesses said “we need to find another way to tackle racism” and confirmed they will remain standing before kick-off on Tuesday. Carter’s team-mate Lucy Bronze said the squad had come together and decided the anti-racism message was not as “strong as it used to be” following the abuse, which has left the team “sad and angry”.

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Jess Carter was sent racist messages online following England’s quarter-final win over Sweden (The FA via Getty)

Carter played the first 70 minutes of England’s quarter-final win over Sweden on Thursday but struggled during the first half as the Lionesses conceded two goals. The Lionesses launched their comeback after Sarina Wiegman made four changes during the second half, with Carter replaced by Esme Morgan and forwards Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead and Michelle Agyemang all having an impact in attack.

“From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse,” Carter said in a statement released by the FA. “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 anyway 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.”

The Lionesses have taken the knee before all four matches at the Euros and have performed the anti-racism gesture ever since the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

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England’s players have taken the knee before all four games at Euro 2025 – they were joined by Sweden before their quarter-final (Getty)

But the team said it could not continue taking the knee while players suffered racist abuse and called on the authorities to “come together” and do more to prevent “online poison”.

“We stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism,” a team statement read. “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.

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Carter has started all four games for England at Euro 2025 (The FA via Getty)

“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.”

Speaking in Zurich on Sunday, Bronze said England’s players had come together in their support of Carter and decided that the message of taking the knee was not as powerful as it was a few years ago. Bronze also praised Carter’s bravery for speaking out and said there was "anger and sadness" in the camp after she received racist abuse.

“It was driven by the group - obviously certain individuals more than others,” Bronze said. “I think it was just the fact that we feel as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be? Is the message really hitting hard? Because to us it feels like it's not if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives.

“It's about putting another statement out there to say, it's something that still is a problem, it’s something that still needs to be put right. More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society, what that is right now as an individual, I don't exactly know.

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Bronze praised Carter for speaking out after suffering racist abuse and said there was a lot of ‘sadness and anger’ in the camp (The FA via Getty Images)

“But it's something that us collectively as a team and as a federation we want to work towards, we want to make changes. This is a small step trying to create another change.

“I think we all know that any player of colour who has played for England has gone through racist abuse. It’s a sad fact. There was a lot of anger that we’re having to go through this.

“It’s anger and sadness that our team-mates are going through this. We don’t want this to happen. We want Jess and anyone else who puts on an England shirt to be brave. There was a lot of sadness and definitely a lot of anger as well.”

The FA said before last summer’s men’s Euros that they would be providing the police with funding to help identify and prosecute individuals who sent England players racist abuse on social media. Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho experienced racist abuse after missing penalties in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

“Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs," FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said. “We strongly condemn those responsible for this disgusting racism.

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Carter has made 49 appearances for England since making her debut in 2017 (The FA via Getty Images)

“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.”

Before the Euros, England manager Wiegman highlighted social media as a “concern”, and several players, including striker Alessia Russo, said before the tournament that they planned to avoid looking at social media while they were in Switzerland.

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Lotte Wubben-Moy said she was coming off social media in support of her England teammate Carter (The FA via Getty)

“Another tournament goes by where we see the same disgusting racist abuse,” defender Lotte Wubben-Moy posted. “It is unacceptable for any person to be subject to this or any kind of abuse. The issue goes beyond sport. But what is being done about it? On the very platforms we post on? I will not continue to feed the very platform that enables abuse with no consequence.”

While Premier League teams stopped taking the knee before every match in August 2022 – instead selecting specific fixtures and weekends to do so – Women’s Super League teams have continued to perform the anti-racism gesture.

England’s decision to continue taking the knee before Euro 2025 was player-led and was communicated to Uefa, with support from the FA.

Carter was a member of England’s squad that won the Euros in 2022 and the defender has won 49 caps for her country. The 27-year-old won five Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea before moving to New York-based Gotham FC last summer, where she plays with her fiancee, the Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

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Carter takes the knee before an England friendly against Portugal before Euro 2025 (The FA via Getty)

“We are heartbroken and outraged by the racist abuse directed at Jess Carter,” Gotham FC said in a statement. “Jess is not only a world-class football player — she is a role model, a leader and a valued part of our Gotham FC family.

“At Gotham, we believe in a culture of mutual respect and remain committed to building a game — and a community — where everyone feels safe, respected and celebrated.

“There is no place for racism in our sport. We stand with Jess, and we deeply appreciate the support for Jess from the Lionesses and England’s Football Association as they compete at the Uefa Women’s Championship.”

England manager Wiegman said: “I stand with Jess, and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism.”

Uefa also condemned the abuse and offered their support to Carter. “We stand with Jess,” a statement said. “Abuse and discrimination should never be tolerated, whether in football or society, in person or online.”