Italy boss responds to racist abuse suffered by England star ahead of Euro 2025 semi-final

Italy head coach Andrea Soncin says his side stand in “maximum solidarity” with Jess Carter after the England defender revealed she was the target of racist abuse on social media during Euro 2025.

The Italians are through to their first women’s European Championship semi-final in 28 years, but will have to knock out defending champions England in Geneva if they want to reach their first final since 1997.

Despite the magnitude of the occasion, Soncin feels Italy have a “huge responsibility” to stand up to the kind of vitriol directed at Carter, who has said she will be stepping away from social media for the remainder of the tournament.

“Of course there is the greatest solidarity towards her and towards all violence and abuse situations,” said Soncin.

“Any type of violence is not accepted, cannot be tolerated. Because of the role we play, we have a strong and huge responsibility in giving positive messages, and especially educational messages, first of all for the children who will be the adults of tomorrow. It is a cultural campaign, a cultural battle, we all have to fight together.”

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The Lionesses, in a statement released on Sunday, announced they will not be “taking the knee” before their semi-final, explaining: “It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism.”

Several England players, including Lucy Bronze and Georgia Stanway, have suggested the now-widespread symbolic anti-racism gesture has lost some of its impact.

Soncin said: “I don’t know whether getting on the knee is enough to change this aspect, but for sure there is maximum solidarity from our side. We are very ready to take part in any campaign to avoid this violence.”

The Italy boss said he planned to speak with his group about how they might express their support to Carter and her team-mates when they meet on Tuesday night.

He added: “We haven’t spoken about (a gesture) with the girls. As I said, we have the greatest solidarity, of course there is the greatest solidarity. As a coach, I will accept whatever the players decide to do.”

Italy and Juventus defender Cecilia Salvai said: “Yes, I believe that we will talk. We will discuss tonight, and our captains are dealing with this issue, and as our coach said, we are open and willing to do anything necessary to give a strong message.”

England boss Sarina Wiegman said Carter is “ready to perform” in their sixth-straight major tournament semi-final.

Salvai added: “As a player, I can say we will not be opponents tomorrow. I hope she can play this game, 100 per cent, because this is a semi-final.

“I hope she can try to detach a bit from this episode. Of course, she is not the first one who has been the victim of this abuse, and we have the greatest solidarity for her.”