Lionesses stars rally round ‘leader’ Jess Carter after brave response to vile racial abuse

Jess Carter has spoken about the racial abuse she has received during the Lionesses’ run to the Euro 2025 semi-finals and announced she will take a step back from social media

England’s players have rallied around Jess Carter after the Lionesses defender bravely opened up on the racial abuse she has suffered during Euro 2025. Carter, who has started all four games at the tournament, announced she would take a step back from social media after the abuse, while the FA have confirmed they are working with UK police on the matter.

And Lucy Bronze, the most experienced player in Sarina Wiegman’s squad, stressed the important role played by Carter on and off the pitch ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final against Italy. “A lot of players have known that this has always been an issue in football but for Jess especially to come out – we all know her as a person and she’s so strong and so tenacious so she almost doesn’t want to put out anything she’s going through on someone else,” Bronze said, expressing her disappointment in “so-called fans writing out these messages”.

“Jess would take a stand for herself but for anyone, she’s that type of person, she’ll stand up for the right thing no matter what,” she added. “But for her to stand up and to speak out herself, it’s so empowering to our whole team in general and especially the likes of someone like Michelle [Agyemang] because it’s her first tournament.

“To see someone like Jess standing up and speaking out, it gives people like that more power to be brave, to stand up and to speak up, to see that all of her team-mates are behind her. I’m sure all of the country is behind her as well and I think that means a lot in moments like this.”

Bronze pointed to other instances of England’s players supporting one another through bereavements, personal issues and homophobia – as well as racism – while remaining successful on the pitch as they chase a third straight major tournament final. “Moments like that empower us both off the pitch and on the pitch, so for us it’s about how we’re empowered as players to make a change and know that driving for success will help us make those changes,” the right-back added,

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“There’s many leaders in this team, not just myself, not just Leah [Williamson] – Jess again being one of them… We have so many leaders who can guide this team through difficult situations, difficult scenarios. I think that’s the power we have in this team and we’ve shown that for many years.”

The players have opted not to take the knee on Tuesday, with Bronze confirming it was a collective decision from the group. “It was just the fact that we feel as a collective ‘is the message as strong as it used to be?’ and 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,” Bronze said. “More needs to be done in football, more needs to be done in society.”

Kick It Out have issued a strongly worded statement in the light of Carter’s words and the support from the England team and beyond. “We send our support to Jess Carter and back her decision to look after her own well-being,” it read.

“It shouldn’t come to a point where players feel the need to take this action; they should feel safe while doing their jobs. They should not be exposed to this sickening behaviour, and those responsible should face the strongest possible consequences.

“But responsibility also lies with social media companies. We support players in whatever actions they choose to take to signify their support in the fight against racism, but the focus should be on the reason behind those actions rather than the actions themselves.

“Social media companies have failed to prevent exposure to this toxicity, and football must continue to use its collective power to hold them to account. We have been working with the government and the regulator, but we know that more urgency is needed from everyone involved. “

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