{"id":2489109,"date":"2025-04-01T15:43:39","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T15:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/2489109\/"},"modified":"2025-04-01T15:43:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T15:43:39","slug":"australia-open-door-for-kerrs-return-as-matildas-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/2489109\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia open door for Kerr&#8217;s return as Matildas captain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AFP047217_00.pre.jpg\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t      Football Australia on Monday opened the door for Sam Kerr&#8217;s return as Matildas captain, saying they would take no further action over a drunken altercation that landed her in a UK court.<br \/>  The Chelsea forward was in February found not guilty of racially aggravated abuse after a 2023 incident in which she called a police officer stupid and white.<br \/>  Football Australia said the 31-year-old Kerr had acknowledged the far-reaching implications of her actions.<br \/>  Sam remains a valued member of the Matildas, recognised by her teammates for her leadership qualities, said board member Heather Garriock.<br \/>  Defender Steph Catley took over the Australia captaincy after Kerr suffered a serious knee injury in 2024.<br \/>  We look forward to the opportunity of welcoming her back once she is fit and ready, and we fully support her ongoing journey in Australian football, Garriock added.<br \/>  Kerr recently met Football Australia officials to discuss her future with the national side.<br \/>  I want to express my sincere regret for how events unfolded, said Kerr in a statement.<br \/>  It was an incredibly difficult period for me, my club, my teammates, and especially for the fans whose support means so much to us.<br \/>  I recognise that leadership means being mindful of our actions both on and off the pitch.<br \/>  Kerr and her partner, West Ham midfielder Kristie Mewis, had been out drinking in January 2023 when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver.<br \/>  The driver complained they had refused to pay clean-up costs after one of them vomited in the vehicle.<br \/>  Police body cam footage showed Kerr calling the officer stupid and white as she argued with him inside the police station.<br \/>  Kerr argued in court she did not use the officer&#8217;s whiteness as an insult, and would later be cleared of racially aggravated abuse.<br \/>  The judge noted that Kerr&#8217;s behaviour contributed significantly to the bringing of this allegation.<br \/>  Kerr has not played football for more than a year after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.<br \/>  Football Australia said that as part of her return-to-play programme, which was agreed by Chelsea, Kerr had joined the current Matildas training camp to continue her rehabilitation.<br \/>  While she may participate in selected training activities, Kerr has not yet been cleared for competitive football, said Football Australia.<br \/>  Australia&#8217;s women have two home friendlies against South Korea.<br \/>  The first is on Friday in Sydney and the second next Monday in Newcastle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Football Australia on Monday opened the door for Sam Kerr&#8217;s return as Matildas captain, saying they woul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2489110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[785171],"tags":[133795,98706,528524,32077,939,19294,1670,98751,73191,11802,200,125020,78392,6798,17757,812,4817,3687,4313,31168,1712,345531,6330,784979,2722,11034,784980,1668,3843,13633,11786,3577,16899,21135,302851,482,14115,577,1669],"class_list":{"0":"post-2489109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-jiji","10":"tag-topics","11":"tag-topix","12":"tag-939","13":"tag-19294","14":"tag-1670","15":"tag-98751","16":"tag-73191","17":"tag-11802","18":"tag-200","19":"tag-125020","20":"tag-78392","21":"tag-6798","22":"tag-17757","23":"tag-812","24":"tag-4817","25":"tag-3687","26":"tag-4313","27":"tag-31168","28":"tag-1712","29":"tag-345531","30":"tag-6330","31":"tag-784979","32":"tag-2722","33":"tag-11034","34":"tag-784980","35":"tag-1668","36":"tag-3843","37":"tag-13633","38":"tag-11786","39":"tag-3577","40":"tag-16899","41":"tag-21135","42":"tag-302851","43":"tag-482","44":"tag-14115","45":"tag-577","46":"tag-1669"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2489109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2489109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2489110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2489109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2489109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2489109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}