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Chelsea striker Sam Kerr will appear in court next year accused of allegedly racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, adding an extra layer of uncertainty to her future with the reigning Women’s Super League (WSL) champions.
Kerr has been ruled out at least until the end of this season since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his knee during a warm-weather training camp with Chelsea in January. His contract expires this summer and, while The Athletic has reported that it has agreed in principle for a new one to remain on the west side of London, but nothing has been formally signed yet.
Here we analyze what the police accusation means for the player and her club.
What exactly has Kerr been accused of?
On Monday it emerged that Kerr, one of the global stars of women’s football, had been charged by police on January 21 under Section 4A of the UK Public Order Act.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the charge “relates to an incident involving a police officer responding to a complaint relating to a taxi fare on January 30, 2023 in Twickenham.”
The 30-year-old pleaded not guilty on Monday at a hearing at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court, south-west London. Kerr is due to stand trial at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court, also in south-west London, on February 1, 2025.
What have Chelsea and Kerr said about the situation?
Neither the player nor the club have made any public statement about the accusation. Chelsea’s position is that they cannot comment on the ongoing legal proceedings, so it is unlikely that we will receive any kind of official statement from them before next year’s hearing.
Kerr spoke only to confirm his identity and plead not guilty in court on Monday. She will likely be advised not to make public comments until the legal proceedings are over, and in any case her lengthy rehabilitation from that ACL injury will greatly restrict opportunities for journalists to speak to her.
The interesting thing is that all of this has only been made public now, 14 months after the alleged crime was committed.
It was evident that Kerr and Chelsea were interested in keeping the situation as quiet as possible, but the fact that nothing came to light last year (or at least when Kerr was formally charged in January) reflects that high-profile footballers if they do it. They still do not face the same level of media scrutiny over his off-field conduct as their male counterparts.
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This is Sam Kerr, Australian sports icon
What is Kerr’s current situation at Chelsea?
Kerr is recovering from surgery to repair the knee injury he suffered at the club’s training camp in Morocco in January; Not only is her 2023-24 season definitively over, but she is likely to be out for most of this calendar year – Australia’s star player will almost certainly miss participating in the Olympics soccer tournament in France this summer.
Chelsea responded to her injury by spending what was at the time a world record transfer fee on Colombian international striker Mayra Ramírez. Ramirez was brought in long-term but also to cover for Kerr on a short-term basis and the 24-year-old scored her first league goal for the club in a 4-0 win at Leicester City on Sunday.
Kerr’s injury means she has played her last game under outgoing Chelsea coach Emma Hayes, who will leave the club this summer to take charge of the US Women’s National Team.
It remains to be seen if he has already played his last game for Chelsea. Kerr’s current contract, a two-year extension signed in 2021, expires at the end of this season.
Does this news change Chelsea’s attitude when it comes to renewing his contract?
Interestingly, there has been no formal announcement of the contract extension that The Athletic reported that Kerr had agreed in principle in January.
That renewal agreement was leaked four days after Kerr was accused of this crime. It is not known whether Chelsea were aware of the trial at the time and it is unclear whether a new contract was actually signed.
If not, there is nothing legal to stop Chelsea parting ways with Kerr when his current deal expires this summer, although it is highly unusual for clubs to renege on deals in principle and even rarer when it comes to such high-profile talents. Said that, The Athletic reported this week that Manchester United did exactly that with now-Arsenal striker Alessia Russo last year.
Such a dispassionate move would also go against Hayes’ words when Kerr suffered his injury in January. “Today is about letting Sam know that she is with her Chelsea family and that we will take care of her,” Hayes said.
Hayes, as stated, will leave Chelsea at the end of the current season, leaving Kerr’s future ultimately in the hands of others at the club. What is clear is that the start of 2025, which the 30-year-old will have planned for her big comeback from injury, will be overshadowed by events off the field.
How important is Kerr for Chelsea?
Kerr joined Chelsea in 2020 from the Chicago Red Stars and scored 99 goals in 128 appearances. In that time, he has won the WSL four out of four times, the FA Cup three times and the League Cup twice. He also helped Chelsea reach their first Champions League final, in 2022.
Known for her ability to score in crucial moments, Kerr has 10 goals in seven domestic cup finals for Chelsea and her volley against Manchester United on the final day of the 2021-22 season helped them clinch the WSL title and won the goal of the season. grant. She also has two Golden Boots as a season’s top scorer from her time in England and has been named Chelsea’s player of the year for the last three seasons.
In the absence of England and Chelsea captain Millie Bright, who has been struggling with her own knee injury, Hayes had given Kerr the armband. Her subsequent injury was seen as a potentially devastating blow to the manager’s attempt to end her time at Chelsea with more titles.
Given how crucial Kerr has been to the team over the past four years, she is also seen as an important figure in terms of continuity as Chelsea look to put Hayes’ 12-year tenure behind them.
How detrimental could this be to Kerr’s status as one of the best players in the world?
Kerr is one of the most famous players in women’s football, and her personality and brand ensure she is recognized around the world and one of the highest-paid players in football.
In addition to having been in the top three for the Women’s Ballon d’Or in each of the last three years, her fame has also been enhanced by commercial deals, such as becoming the first player to appear on the global cover of the FIFA video game.
The effect this situation will have on his condition will only become truly clear when he returns to fitness later this year or early 2025. He is likely to arrive shortly before his scheduled court date in early February.
Kerr produced one of the iconic moments of last summer’s World Cup when he scored against England (Ane Frosaker/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
What has the reaction been like in Australia?
Before 6:30am on Tuesday, many Australians received a push notification telling them about this story, and then again with more information on Wednesday. This is important news, given Kerr’s status in her homeland.
Prominent pundit and former Australian men’s national team player Craig Foster wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that this was “unexpected and distressing news for all of football.” As was the case in England, there was no public suggestion that Kerr was the subject of a police investigation, so the story came completely out of the blue.
Wherever you went in Australia during the Women’s World Cup that was co-hosted with neighboring New Zealand last year, you were greeted with a building-sized tournament announcement, usually with the national team’s captain, Kerr, looking at you. She has been an integral part of turning the Matildas into the national heroes and hugely popular team that they are. When you go to a game, or even just to the beach, it’s not just the women and girls who have Kerr’s name and the number 20 printed on the back of their Australia jerseys, but everyone and everyone.
The limitations on what can be discussed once a person has been charged in a UK court means there is much that can be said while the process is ongoing, but the question over her status as Australia captain has been part of the debate that has followed. News.
Should it be withdrawn until the verdict? Some suggest it might be for the best, but for now, her long-term injury means coach Tony Gustavsson doesn’t have to make a decision on that issue.
Additional reporting: Liam Twomey and Abi Paterson
(Top photo: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)