England want to 'send a message to the world' in response to Jess Carter abuse at Euro 2025, says Sarina Wiegman

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England head coach Sarina Wiegman said her side want to "send a message to the world" in their response to defender Jess Carter receiving racist abuse on social media, as they continue their Euro 2025 title defence against Italy in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Wiegman said the England squad "came really well together" in support of Carter, and that their response "says a lot about the team".

Wiegman slams 'ridiculous, disgusting' racist abuse suffered by Carter

Video credit: SNTV

Sarina Wiegman said her England squad want to "send a message to the world" in their response to the racist abuse received by defender Jess Carter.

Carter, 27, said on Sunday she had received "a lot of racial abuse" throughout the Euro 2025 tournament, in which she has started all four matches as England look to defend their title in Switzerland.

England and the FA responded by saying police had been contacted and that it had been reported to the relevant social media platform.

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Asked what message she gave the squad ahead of their Euro semi-final against Italy on Tuesday, Wiegman responded: "That didn’t need a message, the team came really well together.

"We spoke about it, everyone wants to perform tomorrow but wanted to address this and send a message to the world. It says a lot about the team."

Wiegman urged "responsibility" to be taken in order to prevent similar cases of abuse, while encouraging social media platforms to act against such matters.

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Video credit: SNTV

"I think it starts with everyone taking responsibility, then you have the bodies responsible for all these [social media] platforms that should do something also," Wiegman said.

"It’s really sad that we have to be occupied by this, it’s ridiculous and disgusting what’s happening.

"It goes beyond football, we have to support Jess. She’s not the only one who gets this abuse. That’s why she wanted to address it. She’s fully supported by the team and myself."

Midfielder Georgia Stanway, meanwhile, said the England squad can "make change" by supporting one another and stressed the importance of being empowered to speak out against abuse.

"The most important thing is Jess has the power to be able to do that - she doesn't have the power on her own, [she has] the power of The Lionesses, the staff, the FA," Stanway said.

"It might sound like there’s one person fighting this battle, but you never really know how many people are behind her and stand with her.

"That’s the beauty of football. If we want to make change, we can do it as a collective. As a collective we are much more powerful."

In their response, England have said they will not take the knee ahead of their match against Italy - and Stanway hopes that by doing so, more productive conversations will arise concerning how to combat online abuse.

"It’s to change it up," the midfielder said. "We felt like the knee was a little bit repetitive. We felt it had come to a point where the knee isn’t doing what we wanted it to do. Our decision is to stand, hopefully that brings more conversation, more change and gets the topic talking."

Wiegman hailed Carter as a "very strong person" and said the defender is "ready to perform and compete" against Italy.

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