Sam Kerr: what’s going on?

During the 2023 Women’s World Cup, most Australians became endeared with our Matildas squad who made it to the semifinals, the furthest an Australian football team – men’s or women’s – ever made it in the FIFA world cup. For a lot of Australians, that was their introduction to Sam Kerr and the rest of the Matildas team. Kerr has been involved in a court case in London in and hasn’t been playing for Australia and Chelsea due to her ACL tear last year, so what’s been going on with the superstar and when will she be back on the pitch?

Since playing for Chelsea, Kerr has won five women’s super-leagues and the FA Cup and guided her team to a Champions League final. She is widely considered one of the best strikers in the world.

Recently, Kerr has been surrounded in controversy to do with a dispute with a Metropolitan Police officer in, PC Stephen Lovell, on January 30, 2023, in London, where she called him “stupid and white” resulting in her being arrested and taken to court.

During court in London, Kerr recounted the story of a taxi ride where she believed that she was being taken hostage by the driver. Kerr’s partner kicked the window of the taxi in an attempt to escape. The taxi driver drove to the police station, concerned with the actions of his passengers.

At the police station, the officers didn’t believe Kerr’s story of what happened as is revealed in a long body cam video.

At the climax of the argument, Kerr called the officer “f****ng stupid and white”, which resulted in her arrest for racially aggravated harassment. The jury in London took only four hours to find Kerr not guilty of the charges.

Kerr said publicly online, “While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone, and I am thankful that the jury unanimously agreed.”

The star also said that she is focused on getting back on the pitch for Chelsea who are closing in on another title winning season. Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has stated that she supports Kerr, although she hasn’t returned to team training yet due to her ACL tear that she is still recovering from.

We can expect to see Kerr return to training in London in the coming few weeks and see her on the pitch before the end of the season.

Peter K, Year 11