Credit: Google
The 27-year-old English women's footballer Jess Carter plays as a centre-back for the English national team and National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club Gotham FC. She recently took to her social media and shared a message stating that she has been a victim of racial abuse and online threats due to her performance in England’s opening match against France in the group stage in which England were defeated 2-1. Carter stated that she has been receiving a lot of criticism and racial abuse which has been taking a toll on her mental health. She has decided to step back from social media due to these online threats.
After coming to know about this terrible incident, the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, took to his social media stating that he is deeply saddened to see what Jess Carter has had to go through and stated that no player should be discriminated in any manner and that they need to be mentally free in order to perform at their best level. He stated that through FIFA's Social Media Protection Service, the organisation has helped tackle such abuse across multiple tournaments.
There is no place for racism in football or in society: Gianni Infantino
Gianni Infantino stated that FIFA will continue to collaborate and support the confederations, FIFA Member Associations, and their players. Even in this instance, FIFA will be offering their support with any further action required, as well as sharing data for appropriate action to be taken against any perpetrators.
The England women's team also known as the Lionesses took to their social media and announced that they will not be taking the "knee" as they feel that football should find another way to tackle "racism" in the society and stated that they will continue to remain standing in support of their player Jessica Carter in their next fixture which is the semi-final against Italy.
