A man has been arrested by police officers investigating online abuse sent to England defender Jess Carter during the Women’s European Championships earlier this summer.
Lancashire Police arrested a 59-year-old man in Great Harwood on Thursday morning on suspicion of malicious communications in relation to some of the messages.
He has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue, a police statement said.
Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chief Council (NPCC) lead for football policing, said: “The messages directed towards Jess Carter were appalling and I would like to commend her for standing up to this abuse and assisting with our investigation.
“Nobody should be subjected to such disgusting abuse, and I expect that today’s arrest will be the first of many over the coming months.
“We want to make it clear that racist abuse of this nature will not be tolerated. Everyone is responsible for what they do and say, and we want to ensure offenders cannot hide behind a social media profile to post vile comments.”
Police Constable Dan Fish from Lancashire Police said: “Lancashire Police does not tolerate hate of any form, either in person or online.
“I hope this arrest sends out a clear message that Lancashire Police will leave no stone unturned in identifying those who engage in such unacceptable behaviour — no matter how long it takes.”
Carter revealed last month she had been the target of “a lot of abuse” during the tournament.
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Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said at the time that the governing body had immediately contacted UK police when it learned about the abuse. Bullingham vowed to ensure “those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice.”
Carter told ITV News earlier this month that the psychological impact of the abuse she suffered made her feel “scared” when England head coach Sarina Wiegman told her she had been selected to play in the Euro final, which England won on penalties against Spain to retain the title.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever been scared; too scared to play,” she said.
“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, 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.
“[The abuse] makes you feel really small. It makes you feel like you’re not important, that you’re not valuable.
“It makes you second guess everything that you do — it’s not a nice place to be. It doesn’t make me feel confident going back onto the pitch. My family was so devastated by it as well and so sad.”
