Sam Kerr will not face disciplinary action at Chelsea as coach says apology ‘enough’ | OneFootball

Sam Kerr is training with Chelsea’s first team squad as she nears a return from a year-long injury absence, while her club coach revealed the personal toll of the recent trial on the star striker and confirmed she will escape sanction over the incident.

The Australian posted images on Instagram of herself in action at the club’s training ground alongside teammates on Thursday night. While Kerr will usually caption her posts, this one was accompanied by only a smiling emoji.

Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor told reporters in her regular pre-match press conference ahead of the Women’s Super League match against Everton that Kerr would not face disciplinary action at the club.

“She made a statement, she was clear in her statement, and I think that’s enough,” Bompastor said. “What she was facing last week was hard enough for her, so the only thing we want to do as a club is support her.”

After being found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer for calling them “fucking stupid and white” following a traumatic cab ride in early 2023, Kerr apologised for the way she expressed herself in body-cam footage of the drunken exchange.

Football Australia said on Wednesday it would “reflect with Sam on learnings” from the incident but did not confirm whether Kerr will retain the Australian captaincy.

Kerr’s return to the Matildas is dependent on her recovery for Chelsea, and Bompastor said it was difficult to give an accurate timeframe for her return with the 31-year-oldnot yet “full practising” with the squad.

“It’s difficult to give a really precise timeframe for Sam but really happy to have her back on pitch with us, with the team,” Bompastor said. “She’s progressing with rehab and going on the right direction.”

Bompastor – the French manager who took the reins at Chelsea last year – confirmed she had kept in touch with Kerr regularly in the past two weeks and the striker was able to keep the same “mindset” during the six-day trial and after receiving the not guilty verdict.

“We are probably, with her family, the ones who know her the most and it was difficult to see her in that situation,” the Chelsea boss said. “It’s maybe one moment in her life where something happened, and if she has to reflect on that, probably she will be like, I don’t want to be through that any more. But it happens in life, and now you need also to be able to forgiven for that and move forward.”

The unbeaten Blues lead the WSL this season even without Kerr, but Bompastor said the two-time golden boot winner was an important part of the club’s family.

“When you know Sam, she’s really a shy person and she just wants to live a life like – how can I say – she doesn’t like to be in the light shining [spotlight],” she said. “She’s a really normal person, and she likes to be quiet, so this type of week for her was something big.”

Kerr is not in the Matildas squad for the SheBelieves Cup in the US later this month, but could be back in the frame for friendlies in Sydney and Newcastle against South Korea in April.

Header image: [Photograph: Harriet Lander/Chelsea FC/Getty Images]