If the game is bigger than its brightest star, Sam Kerr must lose Matildas captaincy

Sam Kerr is a national hero, but she can no longer be the national team’s skipper. EMMA GREENWOOD tells us why.

• Reputation damage ‘will stick’ to Kerr

Sam Kerr is arguably the best female footballer on the planet. A national hero for her on-field heroics. An inspiration to young players everywhere.

But she has to be stripped of the Matildas captaincy after failing to inform Football Australia (FA) officials that she was facing a criminal charge.

Kerr has been accused of the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer in an alleged altercation over a taxi fare in January 2023 and will face a four-day criminal trial next year.

The 30-year-old was charged via a “postal charge requisition” on January 21 this year “with a racially aggravated offence under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986”.

She appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Monday via a video link, pleading not guilty to the charges, which were alleged to have occurred during an incident in Twickenham, in south west London on January 30, 2023.

First and foremost Kerr deserves natural justice and the presumption of innocence.

She spoke in court only to confirm her name and enter a not guilty plea and will be defending the charges.

Sam Kerr’s captaincy of the national team is in question. Picture: Getty Images

She will have her day in court to clear her name - even if it’s almost a year away.

Kerr can perhaps be forgiven for not informing FA at the time of the incident, in January 2023, given she had not been charged.

But once she was, it was reprehensible for her not to have told someone at FA headquarters.

No one is suggesting it had to be shouted from the rooftops.

But for FA powerbrokers to have to be blindsided is a poor look for the code - and for Kerr’s leadership.

Frankly, it should have been one of the first calls she made.

But there were seven weeks between the charge being laid and the matter being mentioned in court and sometime in that period she had a duty to let someone at FA know.

Imagine if Pat Cummins was in the same situation. The captain of the Wallabies, or rugby league’s Kangaroos, the West Coast Eagles or the Boomers.

Again, there would be the presumption of innocence and a legitimate refusal for officials to comment on the matter while it is before the courts.

But calls for those leaders to stand down would be deafening.

Kerr will face a criminal trial in February 2025. Picture: Getty Images

It is absolutely drilled into professional athletes in this country that if they find themselves in this type of predicament they call their clubs and their managers. Pronto.

That’s perhaps a sad indictment on how often athletes from some of the male-dominated football codes in particular are finding themselves before the courts.

Some sports have instituted stand down policies and procedures.

No one is suggesting Kerr should be stood down from duty - not that that’s a possibility anyway given her unfortunate knee injury and continued recovery.

But leadership is about more than wearing an armband on the field.

Despite her ruptured ACL, Kerr is still referred to as the Matildas captain - it’s not only an on-field role.

FA boss James Johnson found out about Kerr’s criminal charge as he boarded a plane for Adelaide on Tuesday morning where he was set to spruik the Matildas’ upcoming clash with China.

Instead, all talk is about Kerr, the bombshell allegations dwarfing any other football announcement.

That’s the thing with Kerr. She is brand Matildas.

That’s perhaps less the case now than a year ago, with Aussies falling in love with her teammates as Kerr prowled the sidelines with a calf injury in the early World Cup matches last year.

But her star still dwarfs all others. She is enormously popular - and powerful - in and out of the team and any move by FA to sanction their leader could face a backlash even if it is deserved.

It’s a massive conundrum for FA and the Matildas officials.

If the game is bigger than its brightest star though, they’ll make the tough call.