Chelsea and Australian footballer Sam Kerr is to stand trial in the UK on charges of racist harassment of a police officer.
The 30-year-old was accused on Monday of using insulting, threatening and abusive language which caused alarm and distress at police officers who were responding to a complaint about taxi fares in Twickenham, south-west London, on January 30. Appeared in court.
Kerr, who appeared in a Kingston court via video link, spoke only to confirm his name and plead not guilty to the charges, the Daily Mail reported.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Samantha Kerr, 30, of Richmond, born 10 September 1993, was arrested on 21 January for a racially aggravated offense under section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986. He was indicted.”
“The charges relate to an incident involving a police officer responding to a complaint about taxi fares in Twickenham on January 30, 2023.”
Carr is scheduled to go on trial in February next year, with testimony from two police officers expected. The trial is scheduled to last four days.
The Australian captain and striker has become one of the country’s most famous athletes since the Matildas reached the semi-finals of last year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
In May, the footballer carried his country’s flag at King Charles’ coronation at Westminster Abbey.
Last month, Kerr agreed a contract extension with current Women’s Super League champions Chelsea. The forward tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a mid-season training camp in Morocco and will miss the remainder of the season.
Kerr joined Chelsea midway through the 2019-20 season and has scored 99 goals in 128 games for the club.
She has also won the Golden Boot twice, finishing second to Spain’s Aitana Bommatti in last year’s Ballon d’Or award and third in the Guardian’s top 100 women’s footballers in 2021 and 2022. , took second place in 2023.
