Jess Carter, the 27-year-old defender for the England women’s national football team, has openly shared her concerns. She is concerned that major games in the Euro 2025 host tournament may be subject to larger-scale racist abuse. Her unfiltered honesty underscores the psychological cost of racist harassment on sportspeople. This effect is most evident in “choke” situations, when the pressure to perform is at its highest.
From euphoria and joy to sadness and guilt, Carter rode an emotional rollercoaster during England’s dramatic quarterfinal shootout win over Sweden. Admitting she experienced a “sigh of relief” when non-Black teammates missed their penalty kicks, she said she was disappointed in herself. She feared the public outcry if the experienced Lauren James was the only player who missed her penalty.
“It’s horrible to say but it’s almost like a sigh of relief when other players that weren’t Black missed a penalty,” she noted. “The racism that would have come with LJ (James) being the only one that missed would have been astronomical.”
That fear, Carter told ESPN, was only amplified when her England coach Sarina Wiegman told her she would be starting the final against Spain. The weight of the game was only added to by her fears of what abuse she may face on social media. Throughout the tournament she faced relentless racial abuse. She made the call to mostly unplug from social media for the duration of the event.
“I think it was a mixture of such a big game, but then on top of that (I was) scared of whatever abuse might come with it,” Carter explained. “Whether it’s football-based or whether it was going to be the racial abuse that was going to come with it because I did something wrong.”
Even the cumulative effects of this abuse have made Carter feel as if he had been beaten down. “It makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable,” she said. This unrelenting environmental onslaught does seem to be having an impact on her confidence on the pitch.
It forces you to doubt every move that you make – it’s an ugly place to operate. When I feel at that level, it doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in me to go back on to the pitch,” she continued.
Carter’s team moved away from any plans to take a knee ahead of their semifinal showdown with Italy. That bold political move heightened the urgency of just about every issue she called attention to. Congratulations to the England team for winning the final against Spain! They triumphed 3-1 on penalties after a riveting 1-1 tie, putting a fine point on their extraordinary comeback against all odds.
Carter’s fears ring true well beyond the world of football. She reflected on her experience, stating, “That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared – too scared to play.”
Carter candidly tells her own stories, updating us on the continual battle against racism in the world of sports, while reinforcing the urgent need to confront athletes’ mental health crises.
