‘This is news to us’: Sam Kerr accused of ‘cover up’ after FA’s shock reveal
Football Australia’s boss has made a startling admission about Sam Kerr as she faces a criminal charge in London.
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Matildas captain Sam Kerr has been accused of a “cover up” after Football Australia boss James Johnson and Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson revealed they only heard about her alleged abuse of a police officer when it broke this morning.
The 30-year-old Kerr appeared at Kingston Crown Court via videolink after she was accused of using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress to a police officer during an alleged incident in Twickenham on January 30, 2023.
The star striker only spoke to confirm her identity and to enter a not guilty plea to the charge which was later confirmed by the Metropolitan Police.
Kerr had earlier scored a hat-trick for her Chelsea team in the side’s 3-2 win over Liverpool to move to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
A UK Metropolitan Police Service spokesman said Kerr was charged via a “postal charge requisition” on January 21 this year “with a racially aggravated offence under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986”.
The officer was allegedly abused after responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare.
Speaking at a press conference in Adelaide on Tuesday, Johnson said: “I woke up this morning like everyone else did to the news and that’s when Football Australia found out about this unsettling event.
“We need to establish our own facts. This is news to us.
“And it’s concerning because of the subject and we need to get our heads around what’s actually happened.’’
Johnson was careful not to make any assumptions given they were “serious allegations”.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of it at the moment. We have our own questions we would like to know. We have got to find out what actually happened,” Johnson said in Adelaide, having woken up to the shock news.
“There is a process that is underway … and that process needs to run its course.
“I don’t want to get into any allegations. We have to understand what happened. They are serious allegations. It regards racism and there is no place for racism in our sport. At the same time Sam has rights, natural justice rights, procedural rights that she has to work her way through and we respect that.”
However, veteran Australian sports broadcaster and former 2GB Drive host Jim Wilson hit out at Kerr sitting on the incident for over a year.
“There’s a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but the cover-up is a disgrace by Sam Kerr, if I was the boss @FootballAUS I’d be livid and reading her the riot act, end of story,” he posted to X.
“Optics are appalling!”
There’s a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but the coverup is a disgrace by Sam Kerr, if I was the boss @FootballAUS I’d be livid and reading her the riot act, end of story.
— Jim Wilson (@JimWilsonMedia) March 5, 2024
Optics are appalling !
Kerr is set to face a four-day trial in England next February where two police officers are scheduled to give evidence.
Harassment convictions in the UK can lead to a sentence of up to two years when the offence is racially or religiously aggravated.
Speaking to Kerr’s defence barrister, Judge Judith Elaine Coelle reportedly said: “I understand that the defence is that she didn’t intend to cause alarm, harassment or distress to the officer, (her behaviour) did not amount to it and it was not racially aggravated.”
Similar to Johnson, Gustavsson revealed the “first time I ever heard about it was this morning” and that he hadn’t spoken to Kerr.
Gustavsson wouldn’t be drawn into what it meant for Kerr’s captaincy.
But already there have been questions raised about her future as the Matildas captain.
The Herald Sun’s Emma Greenwood said although Kerr might not have mentioned it in January 2023, after being informed of the charge seven weeks ago, it was “reprehensible for her not to have told someone at FA headquarters”.
- With NCA newswire
Originally published as ‘This is news to us’: Sam Kerr accused of ‘cover up’ after FA’s shock reveal
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