FIFA president Gianni Infantino 'deeply saddened' by racist abuse towards England's Jess Carter

Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, has expressed his deep sorrow over the online racial abuse targeted at England's Jess Carter during Euro 2025, vowing that FIFA will collaborate with relevant authorities to identify those responsible.

Defender Carter announced she would be "taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with" after disclosing she had been subjected to "a lot of racial abuse" throughout the tournament in Switzerland.

Infantino took to Instagram to express his dismay: "I am deeply saddened to see the online abuse directed at England's Jess Carter during the ongoing Women's EURO tournament. There is no place for racism in football or in society.

"We stand with Jess. We stand with every player and every individual who has suffered from racist abuse.

"No player should be discriminated against in any way, they should be free to be at their very best on the pitch.

"Through FIFA's Social Media Protection Service, we have helped tackle such abuse across multiple tournaments. We will continue to collaborate and support confederations, FIFA Member Associations and their players.

"In this instance, we will be offering our support with any further action required, as well as sharing data for appropriate action to be taken against any perpetrators."

Mark Bullingham, the chief of the Football Association, confirmed that his organisation has already reported the "abhorrent" abuse to UK police, who are "in touch with the relevant social media platform".

Bullingham stated the FA "will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done."

Lucy Bronze expressed her sadness for England teammate Carter ahead of the Lionesses semi-final