CNN
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England’s Jess Carter says she will step back from social media after saying the defender has been undergoing “many racist abuse” since the start of the 2025 UEFA women’s Euro.
Carter started all four England matches as the team reached the semi-final stage of the tournament. Lioness He is about to win his second European Championship.
“I feel like all fans are being praised for their opinions about the performance and outcomes, but I think it’s okay to target someone’s appearance or race. “This means I’m going to take a step back from social media and leave it to the team to deal with it.”
Carter added that he has made the decision to protect himself “to stay focused on supporting the team anyway.”
“Hopefully, it will make the people writing this abuse think twice, so that others don’t have to deal with it. We’ve made some historical changes with this lioness team.
CNN Sports reached out to Meta and X for comment.
The UK’s official women’s social media accounts issued a statement in support of Carter, calling the abuse defenders suffering from “online poisoning.”
“No one needs to endure such slanderous abuse in football or a walk in life,” the team said in X. “To represent our country is our greatest honor.
“It’s not right that while we’re doing it, some of us are treated differently simply because of our skin tone.”
The statement added that following the global rage over George Floyd’s 2020 murders ahead of Tuesday’s semi-final clash, England players will stand rather than kneeling, rather than acts of solidarity and prejudice against racism and prejudice.
“It’s clear that we and football need to find another way to tackle racism,” it said.
Mark Bringham, CEO of the English Football Association (FA), said the group is “working with the police to ensure that the person responsible for this hate crime is brought to justice.”
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time that this has happened to an English player, so there were steps in place to respond quickly and provide information to support police actions whenever possible,” Bringham said.
“We will continue to discuss with relevant authorities and social media companies about more can and should be done to prevent this abominable abuse.”
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer has offered to support Carter by writing on social media. “There is no place for racism anywhere in football or society.
“I stand on and off the pitch, with Jess, Lioness and players struggling with racism,” Starmer said.
“It’s getting worse”
Online abuse targeting female soccer players is a subject discussed before the women’s euro, with members of the English team saying they will avoid social media during major tournaments due to abuse they are subject to.
Carter’s England teammate Lott Waben Moy announced on Sunday that he would be leaving social media as a result of persistent abuse.
“Another tournament goes where we see the same nasty racist abuse. It’s unacceptable to be exposed to this or any kind of abuse,” Wubben-Moy said in a post on Instagram’s story. “This issue goes beyond sports. But what’s going on about it? The very platform I posted won’t continue to supply platforms that make abuse possible as a result.”
Carter’s England teammate defender Lucy Bronze hears about the abuse that targeted Carter, detailing the anger and sadness that the entire team felt, standing before kickoff, rather than kneeling, hoping that the player’s voices show that they “make a difference.”
Bronze added that the growing popularity of women’s soccer has led to an increase in abuse.
“The bigger the game, the more noise, the more fans, but the more critics there are,” Bronze told reporters. “We are clearly open to critics – that’s why we love sports – but we are not open to abuse.
“It seems online abuse is getting worse and worse, especially in women’s football. We see more of it in men’s soccer and online stadiums, but there seems to be a real online target in women’s football.
“That’s something we know very much. There’s a way to make a difference. There’s a solution. There’s no answer, but I’m sure there’s one.”
Since her debut in the UK in 2017, Carter has always been on the team since then, and has been part of the team that won the women’s euro in 2022. She has made 49 appearances for the national side.
England aims to book their second consecutive women’s Euro finals to play Italy in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
