LONDON: A man pleaded guilty Friday to sending “totally abhorrent” social media messages to England women’s defender Jess Carter during last year’s European Championships.
Nigel Dewale with an address at Prospect Street, Great Harwood, northwest England, entered a guilty plea to one charge of malicious communications and possession of a weapon in a private place at Blackburn Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
His admission came after the UK Football Policing Unit launched an investigation last July into abuse directed at Carter.
Dewale is due to be sentenced on March 25.
Mark Roberts, the football policing lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Everyone is responsible for what they do and say, and posting a message on social media is no different.
“In this case, Dewale sent hateful and malicious messages, thinking that he would be able to hide behind his account name.
“His comments were totally abhorrent, they caused emotional distress for Miss Carter and her family and I welcome the guilty plea entered today.”
A spokesperson for England’s governing Football Association responded to Dewale’s guilty plea by saying “unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated, whether in person or online.”
The spokesperson added: “Our priority remains supporting Jess and all of our England players who continue to be impacted by disgusting online abuse.”
Writing on her social media accounts at the time the abuse came to light, Carter — who went on to help England win a second successive Euros title — said: “From the start of the tournament I have experienced a lot of racial abuse.
“Whilst I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result I don’t agree or think it’s OK to target someone’s appearance or race.”
England forward Lauren James suffered online racist abuse after a defeat for her club side Chelsea in 2023.
England men’s players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted after they all failed to score penalties in a shoot-out loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Man pleads guilty to sending ‘abhorrent messages’ to England women’s footballer Carter
https://arab.news/z2qn4
Man pleads guilty to sending ‘abhorrent messages’ to England women’s footballer Carter
- His admission came after the UK Football Policing Unit launched an investigation last July into abuse directed at Carter
- Dewale is due to be sentenced on March 25
Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig
- The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund
- Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break
LEIPZIG, Germany: Harry Kane scored his 21st goal of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 5-1 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while continuing their record-breaking campaign.
Unbeaten Bayern have dropped just four points on their way to a record-equalling tally of 50 after 18 games. Bayern’s total of 71 goals scored is also a record at this stage of a German league season.
Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break, Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olize all scoring.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said Leipzig were “twice as good as we were” in the opening half, adding “but in the second-half — my god, the boys delivered.
“We weren’t afraid and we really went for it.”
Leipzig goalscorer Romulo said “we played 75 minutes really on top, then I don’t know what happened, we turned off our minds. We have to learn something out of that.”
Leipzig were strong early and broke through after 20 minutes when Romulo snuck past Bayern’s Tah to poke in an Antonio Nusa pass from close range.
The hosts were undone in the simplest fashion just after half-time. Dayot Upamecano picked Christoph Baumgartner’s pocket and fed Gnabry, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Bayern took the lead after 67 minutes, once again thanks to a Leipzig mistake.
Olize’s floated cross looked harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing an unmarked Kane time and space to blast home.
With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Tah, Pavlovic and Olize all scored in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala returned late off the bench after a six-month injury absence.
- Can rescues Dortmund -
Earlier, an Emre Can penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time saved Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in a 3-2 home win against lowly St. Pauli.
In the dying moments, VAR found a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, bringing Dortmund captain Can to the spot.
“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany.
“We need to do much better to settle things down and to convert our chances,” he added.
The hosts overcame a poor first half when Julian Brandt tapped in from close range just before the break. Having created the opener, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a two-goal buffer in the 54th minute, converting a Fabio Silva assist.
Rock-bottom St. Pauli had won just once since September but fought back into the game when James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones scored inside 10 minutes midway through the second half to stun the hosts.
Deep into stoppage time, Jones caught Beier on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Can to convert nervelessly from the spot.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Wouter Burger scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over flailing Bayer Leverkusen to climb past Leipzig into third in the table.
Burger swung in an excellent free-kick after nine minutes to give the hosts the three points.
“That was an important one,” Burger said of his free-kick. “I was practicing them a bit this morning.”
Relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are on track to qualify for Europe’s top competition for just the second time in their history, having last done so under now-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now lost four of their past six, falling three points behind the Champions League placings.
Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 home draw with Heidenheim and hosts Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
