Australian women’s football player Sam Kerr (30) has been charged with racist harassment following an altercation with a police officer, the Metropolitan Police Service announced on March 4.

Kerr, the highest-profile and highest-paid player in women’s soccer, was charged following an incident in London in January 2023 that began when a police officer responded to a “complaint about a taxi fare,” authorities said.

The Chelsea player, who plays in the English Women’s Super League, has been charged under laws limiting “threatening, abusive or insulting” behaviour and could face fines or prison time. Prosecutors told AFP that Kerr has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to British media, the trial will take place in February next year.

Carr has been sidelined since suffering a serious injury in January this year, when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and the indictment casts a dark shadow over his hopes of competing in the Paris Olympics this summer. (c)AFP