Football civil war: Explosive fallout from Kerr charge could rock FA
A bitter falling out is looming between Sam Kerr and Football Australia amid questions over the captain’s failure to inform key officials of her criminal charge for racial abuse of a policeman.
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A bitter falling out is looming between Sam Kerr and Football Australia amid questions over the captain’s failure to inform key officials of her criminal charge for racial abuse of a policeman.
While Kerr is preparing to break her silence on the story that has gripped Australian media but barely created a ripple in the UK, it can be revealed there is a growing divide between the skipper’s camp and management at Football Australia.
At the core of the argument is why was FA blindsided by the criminal charges when her club Chelsea were informed.
The belief from Kerr’s camp is Chelsea are her primary employers, therefore they were kept up to date on proceedings.
And Football Australia only contracts Kerr per international appearance and although she may be captain, she is not obligated to inform FA of any issues that occur outside of a team environment.
Football Australia CEO James Johnson confirmed his organisation had opened dialogue with the Kerr camp and offered support for their captain.
“As CEO of Football Australia, I want to reaffirm our support for Sam Kerr amidst the current allegations. Sam has pleaded not guilty and her right to a fair and just legal process is important,” said Johnson in a statement.
“We trust the judicial system to handle this matter appropriately and urge respect for the legal proceedings.
“We are in touch with Sam and her team, and Football Australia is committed to supporting Sam throughout this process.”
An ordinary team player may not require such transparency, but Kerr has been bestowed the honour of national captaincy and to not inform anyone from her country of impending legal action is at best extreme naivety and at worst a deliberate cover up.
This is one of the first major off field crises for a major female athlete since the explosion in popularity of women’s sport.
Was there a belief this could be one of those old school secrets that was kept hidden under the rug by just a select few in the know?
After all, if not for the one media organisation in the UK who picked up on her court appearance, this story would have remained a closely guarded secret.
And while it’s since been on the front and back pages and television news in Australia, in the UK there are people who work in football who still don’t know about the story.
Certainly there is a sense of disbelief at this story has snowballed.
Those close to Kerr believe the media maelstrom has been fuelled by CEO James Johnson’s public commentary about being blindsided and the strategic FA comments by CEO and coach Tony Gustavsson lacked the same empathy afforded by Chelsea boss Emma Hayes for the player’s welfare.
The cold war between Kerr and country comes at an interesting time in her career.
She’s 30, she will miss the Olympic Games with injury, she is engaged to be married, is coming off contract with Chelsea and the next World Cup is not until 2027.
It raises the question as she enters the twilight of her career of whether Kerr needs the Matildas as much as Australia needs Sam Kerr?
Certainly the Socceroos have found in the past with the likes of Harry Kewell and Mark Bosnich, star footballers can simply walk away from the national team to focus only on club duties without the need for constant international travel back and forth to Australia in the middle of a busy season.
With three years until the next World Cup, does FA run the risk of pushing Kerr into an early international retirement if they don’t tread carefully with this matter?
For as much as the Kerr brand is tied to Australia, her legacy will live on long after her football career finishes and right now her greatest income is generated by playing in the UK and her global appeal with sponsors.
The quickest way to conclude this saga is for Kerr to speak publicly.
She may not be able to answer any questions pertaining to the night itself while that matter is before the courts, but there are just as many questions about the process since last year as there are about the alleged incident itself.
Like, did she tell her teammates?
None of Kerr’s Matildas teammates play with her at Chelsea, but the Tillies are a tight-knit group that often socialise together away from Australia camps.
Tales of big nights gone wrong tend to come up in conversation. Did this never come up in idle chit chat?
There is a strong belief within football that someone HAD to know. Secrets don’t last long in team sports.
“This stinks to high heaven,” one source said of the claim that no one knew anything for over a year.
Already though public opinion is swinging in Kerr’s favour.
Online polls about her captaincy skewed towards her being stood down, but since the alleged comments of “stupid white bastard” to a policeman were revealed the sentiment has shifted.
Such comments, whilst offensive, do not fall on the career suicide end of the racism spectrum.
If you want to live in a woke world, as the Matildas have created in their own moral crusades, then you have to live by it. So, if guilty, Kerr will need to address that issue.
But her long silence, may not be as bad as many believe.
Her failure to inform anyone of the January 30, 2023 indiscretion can be traced back to the fact she thought the matter had been dealt with on the night. Police intervention, but no charge on the night.
It wasn’t until the postal charge arrived in her letterbox on January 21 this year - almost a full year after the alleged incident - that her world tipped upside down.
So you can understand her legal team fighting the charge on procedural fairness.
And, to an extent, you can understand if Kerr didn’t tell a soul. From her end, crisis had been averted. A lucky escape, but you live and learn.
But the seven weeks of silence between charge and media report point to bigger issues of mistrust between Kerr and FA.
The longer the silence, the more pre-prepared answers from both sides, the greater the intrigue and the greater the gulf between the camps.
If Kerr’s case is thrown out of court next month the damage may be less about the impact to her reputation and more about her relationship with her country.
That damage may be irreparable.
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