EURO 2025: England to not take knee in Italy semifinal over racist abuse

The English women’s football team will not be taking the knee in its Euro 2025 semifinal match against Italy on Tuesday in support of teammate Jess Carter, who has been the target of racist abuse online.

Defender Carter said she has been the target of online racist abuse since Euro 2025 began, and announced on Sunday that she is stepping away from social media for the duration of the tournament.

While the England women traditionally take a knee before matches — including its four matches so far in Switzerland, as a symbolic gesture against racism — they will not do so on Tuesday.

READ | England’s Lucy Bronze: In women’s football, the online abuse seems to be getting worse

“It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism, we have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kickoff on Tuesday,” they said in a statement.

“We stand with Jess and all Lionesses players past and present who have suffered racism,” the team said. “Representing your country is the greatest honour. It is not right that while we are doing that some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin.”

Europe’s football governing body UEFA said: “Abuse and discrimination should never be tolerated, whether in football or society, in person or online.

“We stand with Jess,” UEFA said in a statement.

With inputs from Reuters