ENGLAND defender Jess Carter has revealed she has been the target of “a lot of racial abuse” during Euro 2025.

The 27-year-old has started all of the defending champions’ matches so far in Switzerland and says she will now take a step back from social media to focus on the remainder of the campaign.

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said his organisation “immediately contacted UK police” as soon as they were made aware of the abuse and vowed to ensure “those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice,” while a statement shared by the England team demanded “those behind this online poison must be held accountable.”

Writing on her social media accounts, Carter said in a statement: “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 any way 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.”

England next travel to Geneva where they will face Italy in the semi-finals on Tuesday night.

The defending champions have previously taken a knee before matches but revealed in a squad statement they have elected to remain standing before the semi-final, saying: “It’s clear we need to find another way to tackle racism.”

Kneeling, a symbolic anti-racism gesture, came to prominence in 2016 when NFL player Colin Kaepernick knelt in protest against racist policing during the United States national anthem and became more widespread during the Black Lives Matter movement.

A team statement, posted on the Lionesses’ official account on X, read: “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.”