Powerbrokers fume at Sam Kerr’s secret race scandal

While her Matildas coach and local football management were kept in the dark for over a year, those in the know at Chelsea enveloped the superstar in a cloak of secrecy.

Sam Kerr of the Matildas has been charged with racially harassing a police officer in England. Illustration: Emilia Tortorella

Australian superstar Sam Kerr’s future in soccer is hanging in the balance after she kept secret for over a year details from her Matildas coach and local football powerbrokers of a police investigation of racial harassment against her.

Few knew of the criminal ­accusation after the January 2023 night in question, coming after a celebration of a big FA Cup round win by Kerr’s club Chelsea where the striker had booted three goals against arch-rivals Liverpool. Kerr, who faced controversy over the N-word early in her career, is accused of racially harassing a British police officer after a dispute over a taxi fare that night.

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson was sidelined in the handling of Kerr’s legal woes, so too Football Australia bosses, with the sport’s chief, James Johnson, discovering their most famous player was in trouble with the law only when details from the court case landed on Australian breakfast tables on Tuesday.

Kerr had kept the issue from them during her remarkable year, captaining the Matildas at the FIFA World Cup in spring, ­dazzling Australians with her artistry on the pitch; being selected by Anthony Albanese to carry the Australian flag into the coronation last May; and becoming ­engaged to her girlfriend, US footballer Kristie Mewis.

Those in the know at Chelsea enveloped Kerr in a cloak of ­secrecy. The English club has ­refused to comment.

“Powerbrokers are fuming,” said a source. “This is their star player and they were kept in the dark. It’s believed sources from the UK knew.’’

The controversy comes more than six years after Kerr was ­embroiled in an Instagram post sent under her handle which had a hashtag with the N-word. After some of her fans raised it as a concern, she changed it to #Freaks #Get #A #Life before deleting the post entirely.

Chelsea is in the midst of contract renegotiations with Kerr, who comes off contract at the end of this year.

Having ruptured her knee at a training camp in January, Kerr has been sidelined following surgery and is in extreme doubt to be fit for the Socceroos campaign at the Paris Olympics, which start late July.

Separate to the judicial process, FA may wait until after next February to determine whether Kerr breached any of the code’s conduct rules.

Johnson said Kerr  “has natural justice and procedural rights” and there will be no moves on her leadership role. However, he said these were serious allegations against Kerr and there “is no place for racism in our sport’’.

He added: “We’re trying to get to the bottom of it at the moment. We have our own questions … We have got to find out what actually happened.

“Sam has rights as an individual. She has pleaded not guilty. I think we need to remember that and we need to respect that.”

“I haven’t spoken to Sam other than a text message just to check in on her wellbeing at the moment because she is an employee of ours and also a player.”

Kerr, pictured in January 2023. Picture: Getty Images

Kerr, 30, appeared in Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court Cr by video link this week six weeks after receiving details of the charges in a postal requisition.

She will contest charges of using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress to a police officer.

The charges attract a maximum penalty on summary conviction of six months imprison­ment, an unlimited fine or both.

The charge sheet from the Metropolitan Police states: “Samantha Kerr, 30, of Richmond was charged via postal charge requisition on 21 January with a racially aggravated offence under Section 4A Public Order Act 1986. The charge relates to an incident involving a police officer who was responding to a complaint involving a taxi fare on 30 January, 2023, in Twickenham.”

The case will be heard at Wimbledon Magistrates Court in February and is scheduled for a four-day hearing, with two police officers down to give evidence.

It is unknown whether body-worn camera footage will be tendered to the court.

Just before this week’s court appearance, Kerr’s fiancee posted a photo of herself in a tight black outfit, and it’s unclear whether this related to Kerr’s upcoming court appearance.

Socceroo Alanna Kennedy responded to the post with a message “Good luck xoxo”.

At the Kingston court, judge Judith Elaine Coello said it was understood that the footballer’s defence would be that her intention had not been to upset the ­policeman.

‘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,” the judge posed to Kerr’s barrister, Grace Forbes.

The issue around “aggravation” will be central to the degree of any penalty if Kerr is found guilty.

Kerr, from Fremantle, is one of the top goal scorers for her Chelsea club, helping it to win four women’s super league titles and three FA Cups.

In the past four seasons with Chelsea, she has scored 99 goals in 128 matches.

She has won the prestigious Golden Boot award on three ­occasions and is a regular on the international shortlist for the Ballon d’or Feminin.

The Chelsea Women’s football club has been approached for comment.