England Women defender Jess Carter has revealed she has been racially abused on social media during Euro 2025 – with her Lionesses team-mates hitting out at the ‘vile’ messages.

The 27-year-old defender has started all four of England’s games in Switzerland so far but revealed she has been subject to racist slurs on her social media accounts since the tournament began.

The FA said they contacted the UK police when they were informed of the abuse, and CEO Mark Bullingham confirmed the social media platform used had also been alerted.

Alongside a statement released on Carter’s Instagram, a separate post from her Lionesses team-mates said it was “not right that some of us are treated differently because of the colour of our skin” and said they would not be taking the knee before Tuesday’s semi-final with Italy.

Carter wrote: “A message to the fans…

“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 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.”

Lionesses condemn ‘vile’ abuse from fans

In their own message released by the full squad and timed to support Carter’s statement, the Lionesses demanded those responsible should be held accountable for their actions and said they needed to find “another way” to stand against racism as a team.

Their statement on X said: “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.”

Bullingham said in a statement that the FA had used measures previously put in place to alert the police as quickly as possible to the abuse suffered by Carter.

“Our priority is Jess and giving her all the support she needs,” he said. “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.”

Sky Sports have contacted Meta for a comment.

‘People & Social Media platforms need to be held accountable’

England defender Lucy Bronze:

“The social media platforms need to be held accountable. We know that millions of people are interacting daily, but there can be more that can be done.

“People need to be held accountable for their actions, whether it’s in person or online. The abuse is not okay, racism is not okay. I think more can be done and more should be done.

“Especially those individuals as well. They shouldn’t be allowed to just sit at home, write whatever they want and just go on with their lives.

“The fact that the bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are, but the more critics there are. And I think we’re obviously open to critics. That’s why we love the sport, but we’re not open to abuse.

“And I think the bigger the sport’s got, it seems to be that more abuse has come as well. And I think, especially in women’s football, the online abuse seems to be getting worse and worse. We see it more in the stadiums in men’s football and online, but I think with women’s football, there seems to be a real target online.

“It’s something that we’re very aware of. And I think with online platforms, it’s something that we can make a change to. I think it’s something in the women’s game, especially that there is a way to make a change. There is a solution.

“I don’t have the answer to that solution because I’m not head of a social media platform, but I’m sure that there is one.”

‘Fans have used performances as an excuse’

Sky Sports News’ Anton Toloui:

“It’s clear the team are all going to be around Jess Carter and trying to make sure she feels supported, and not isolated, in such a difficult time for her.

“She’s been so under the microscope in terms of performance over the last few days, as have England as a whole. Their performances haven’t been up to the standard they want.

“But people have used that as an excuse of going beyond that and into the realms of unacceptable behaviour. It’s clearly a difficult time for the defender.”

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