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Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, has expressed his deep sorrow over the online racial abuse targeted at England's Jess Carter during Euro 2025, vowing that FIFA will collaborate with relevant authorities to identify those responsible.
Defender Carter announced she would be "taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with" after disclosing she had been subjected to "a lot of racial abuse" throughout the tournament in Switzerland.
Infantino took to Instagram to express his dismay: "I am deeply saddened to see the online abuse directed at England's Jess Carter during the ongoing Women's EURO tournament. There is no place for racism in football or in society.
"We stand with Jess. We stand with every player and every individual who has suffered from racist abuse.
"No player should be discriminated against in any way, they should be free to be at their very best on the pitch.
"Through FIFA's Social Media Protection Service, we have helped tackle such abuse across multiple tournaments. We will continue to collaborate and support confederations, FIFA Member Associations and their players.
"In this instance, we will be offering our support with any further action required, as well as sharing data for appropriate action to be taken against any perpetrators."
Mark Bullingham, the chief of the Football Association, confirmed that his organisation has already reported the "abhorrent" abuse to UK police, who are "in touch with the relevant social media platform".
Bullingham stated the FA "will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done."
Lucy Bronze expressed her sadness for England teammate Carter ahead of the Lionesses semi-final clash with Italy in Geneva on Tuesday, whilst cautioning social media firms that football players can "thrive" without their platforms.
"I think no player needs social media," Bronze remarked. "I think that's one thing that we can always remember, is that we play football because we love the sport.
"Someone like Jess, she's had an amazing tournament. I think she was one of our best players in the Netherlands game, for example, and she should be able to see messages and the fans and the support and live in that moment, because it's something you should be able to celebrate."
The Lionesses have reached a collective decision that they will not be "taking the knee" before kick-off in Geneva, abandoning the symbolic anti-racism gesture that has become commonplace across sport since 2016, when NFL player Colin Kaepernick knelt during the Star Spangled Banner in protest.
"Until now, we have chosen to take the knee before matches," the team statement declared.
"It's 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."
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