A 59-year-old man will appear in court in January over abusive social media messages sent to England defender Jess Carter during Euro 2025.
The 27-year-old defender revealed during the tournament in Switzerland that he had been subjected to racist slurs on his social media accounts since the tournament began.
The FA contacted British police about Carter’s abuse and the unnamed man, from Great Harwood, Lancashire, was arrested by Cheshire Police in August.
The force said in a statement: “Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, this man has been summoned to appear at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Friday 9 January, where he will be charged with one count of malicious communication.”
The investigation was first launched by the UK Football Police Unit (UKFPU) after Mr Carter revealed the scale of the abuse following England’s quarter-final victory over Sweden.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, of Cheshire Constabulary and head of football policing at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said at the time: “The message sent to Jess Carter is appalling and I would like to commend her for standing up to this abuse and co-operating with our investigation.”
“No one should be subjected to such abhorrent abuse, and I expect today’s arrest to be the first of many to come in the coming months.
“We want to make clear that this type of racist abuse will not be tolerated. Everyone is responsible for their actions and words, and we want to ensure that perpetrators cannot hide behind social media profiles and post vile comments.”
When Carter made his public statement, tributes poured in from far and wide, including from his Lionesses team-mates and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
A study by SentientSports GuardianAI found that Carter was the most negatively targeted player on social media during the penalty shootout win over Sweden, with 9.8 per cent of abusive posts directed at her.
In response to the abuse, the Lionesses team collectively decided to stop kneeling before games during the tournament.
In his first statement on July 21, Carter said, “Since the tournament began, I have experienced a lot of racial abuse. While I believe all fans are entitled to their opinions on performances and results, I do not agree with or think it is 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 the response to my team.
“As always, we appreciate all the support from our true fans, but we are taking this step to protect ourselves in order to remain focused on helping our team in any way we can. Hopefully, by speaking out, those writing this rant will think twice and others won’t have to deal with it.”
“We have brought historic changes to this Lionesses team, and I am very proud to be a part of them. I hope that by speaking out about this, we can bring about new positive changes for everyone. I am now focused on looking forward and doing everything I can to help the team.”
England lifted the Euro 2025 trophy in Switzerland, with Carter starting and playing the full game in England’s final penalty shootout victory over Spain.
