One of Australia’s top sports agents explains why he believes Sam Kerr is in DEEP trouble with Football Australia over bombshell legal scandal

A leading Australian sports agent has declared Matildas superstar Sam Kerr should give up the team captaincy in the wake of being charged for allegedly racially harassing a police officer.

Kerr, 30, will fight to have the charges dropped next month in court – but the agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for commercial reasons, was stunned that Football Australia were unaware of her legal scandal until it became public on Tuesday.

‘It is standard protocol for athletes to [immediately] pass on information of this nature,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Failing to do so could well be a breach of her contract … of course, there are two sides to every story, but the [racism] charge is a serious one.’

The agent in question – who manages several household names – said if Kerr was his client, he would have immediately informed Football Australia of the alleged incident, who then can determine the next course of action.

A leading Australian sports agent has declared Kerr should give up the captaincy in the wake of being charged by UK police for allegedly racially harassing a police officer

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson (pictured) said the governing body was blindsided by the bombshell development involving Kerr

When pressed for a statement on the matter, a representative from Football Australia said: ‘we will not be providing running commentary on the matter … we made our comments [on Monday] and that’s it for now.’

Football Australia chief executive James Johnson confirmed in Adelaide on Monday he was blindsided by the bombshell development, which was allegedly sparked by a dispute over a taxi fare.

‘I woke up [this morning] like everyone else did to the news,’ Johnson told reporters.

‘And that is when Football Australia found out about this unsettling event.

‘We are trying to get to the bottom of it at the moment. ‘We have got our own questions that we’d like to know, we have got to find out what actually happened.

‘But we also want to say that there is a process that is under way in the United Kingdom and that process needs to run its course.’

Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson added he was ‘surprised’ to hear his captain Kerr was charged with the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer in London. 

Kerr – Australia’s highest-profile sportswoman – is accused of using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress to a police officer during an alleged incident in Twickenham in south-west London on January 30 last year.

The Chelsea goal machine appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Monday via video link, where she confirmed her identity and entered a not guilty plea to the charge.

On January 30 last year – the same day Sam Kerr allegedly racially abused a police officer in London – the superstar striker was on cloud nine 

The Chelsea goal machine (pictured right, with fiancée Kristie Mewis) had just scored a hat-trick against Liverpool as the Blues won 3-2 to move into the fifth round of the women’s FA Cup

Not long after fulltime, a beaming Kerr posted an image on Instagram from the ground with Mewis, which read ‘into the next round’

Kerr was informed she is obliged to attend a four-day trial, scheduled for next February, during which two police officers are expected to give evidence.

It has since emerged Kerr’s legal team will return to court on April 26 with the aim of avoiding a criminal trial in 2025.

Court documents also revealed they plan to argue abuse of process by prosecutors after it took almost 12 months for Kerr to be charged.

If that is unsuccessful, Kerr’s charge will be heard in court on February 2 next year.

Judge Judith Elaine Coello said it was understood the footballer’s defence would be that her intention was not to upset the policeman.

‘I understand that the defence is that she didn’t intend to cause alarm, harassment or distress to the officer, [her behaviour] did not amount to it and it was not racially aggravated,’ the judge asked Kerr’s barrister, Grace Forbes.

The charge comes as Kerr, who has scored 99 goals in 128 matches for Chelsea since signing for the club in 2019, is sidelined with a anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained during the club’s training camp in Morocco in January.

Kerr has won four Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea, as well as three FA Cups, two Women’s League Cups and the Women’s Community Shield in 2020.

Last November, Kerr and fellow professional player Kristie Mewis, 32, who currently plays for West Ham United, confirmed they were engaged to be married.