Sport England chair Chris Boardman has formally raised concerns with government regulator Ofcom regarding the escalating online abuse targeting the England Women’s team during Euro 2025.
The intervention follows England defender Jess Carter’s decision to step back from social media after revealing she had received “a lot of racial abuse” during the tournament in Switzerland, a matter the Football Association has referred to the police.
Boardman’s letter, addressed to Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of the communications regulator, highlighted a “recent wave of racist and sexist abuse” directed at players.
He urged the body to deploy its full powers to tackle online trolls.
While acknowledging record levels of engagement and participation in women’s sport, Boardman warned that “the toxic culture that persists online, particularly on social media, threatens to undermine this progress”.
The abuse faced by the athletes “not only causes personal harm but also sends a damaging message to the next generation of girls who aspire to follow in their footsteps”, Boardman wrote.
“Research on behalf of our This Girl Can campaign has shown a fear of judgement is a huge barrier to women being active, and abuse of our elite athletes online only increases reservations amongst those taking part at a community level.”
The letter calls on Ofcom to use the powers it has under the Online Safety Act 2023 to address the abuse, saying it has “a vital role to play”.
“We are particularly interested in how the new codes can be used to address the kind of targeted abuse we are seeing,” Boardman wrote.
“We understand that Ofcom has also issued draft guidance on improving online safety for women and girls, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how these measures can be strengthened and enforced.
“For too long internet trolls have been given free rein by the big tech companies to spread bile and misery, and this cannot be allowed to continue.”
Jessica Zucker, online safety director at Ofcom, said: “No one should have to put up with this kind of vile abuse. The UK’s new online safety laws mean tech firms must now take action when they know someone’s broken the law on their platform.
“When all the rules are fully in force, the largest social media sites will also have to give users more power to filter out anything that isn’t illegal.
“And we’ve set out ways online services should go further to tackle misogyny and pile-ons that are targeted at women.
“We’ll be holding companies to account, but this needs to happen alongside effective education and law enforcement against the individuals who post illegal abuse.”
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