Sam Kerr facing $3 million blow as Matildas star's lawyers make bombshell claim

Sam Kerr's lawyers are set to argue abuse of process in a bid to have her racial harassment charge dropped at a pre-trial hearing next month. A number of UK media outlets have cited court documents that state Kerr's lawyers will seek to have the charge downgraded or dropped when she returns to court on April 26.

The Matildas superstar appeared in court in London on Monday and pleaded not guilty to a charge of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer. The charge stems from an incident that took place in January of 2023 - reportedly over a dispute over a taxi fare - but Kerr was only charged on January 21 this year. Kerr's lawyers will reportedly argue that police took too long to lay charges considering it took nearly 12 months.

The 30-year-old is charged with using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress. She appeared in court on Monday and is set to face trial in February next year.

On Tuesday, Football Australia boss James Johnson revealed Kerr hadn't informed the governing body about the charge despite it occurring some six weeks ago. Regardless of whether she's found guilty or not, there are questions about whether Kerr can keep the Matildas captaincy considering she kept FA in the dark.

But there are also some potential financial implications. According to the Financial Review, the 30-year-old earned $3.34 million in 2022, but the majority of it could come crashing down.

As well as a $1.5 million contract with Chelsea in the Women's Super League, Kerr also has a $1 million endorsement deal with Nike and makes $600,000 per year from a deal with Mastercard. Nike in particular are unlikely to look too kindly on the situation considering their standing in the global market.

Matildas coach not weighing in on Sam Kerr captaincy change

Discussing the situation on Tuesday, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson - who was also kept in the dark until the news emerged earlier in the day - said it was too early to discuss the possibility that Kerr losing the captaincy. Kerr has been Matildas skipper for a number of years, but Steph Catley will lead the team at the Paris Olympics due to Kerr's ACL injury that will keep her sidelined for the majority of 2024.

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Gustavsson said he is confident the situation with Kerr won't affect his side during their Olympics campaign. "I think if you look at the attention that this team have gotten over the last little bit less than a year...the team itself knows the core values of who they are on and off the field, they know what they stand for, but also as a football team, they know what they stand for on the field," he said.

"I think they've shown in the past that when there's been things around them that could potentially disturb the team...they have been very good at focusing on their why and what they stand for and how they want to play football.

"So in that sense I think the team is going to be very professional this time around, as well. I think it's a bit too early to look at selection at this time, and as we all know with Sam's serious injury in January there's obviously a very big question mark [about] whether she will even be up for selection."

Gustavsson said he'd offered his support to Kerr upon learning of the situation. Johnson had earlier revealed that FA didn't know about the charge or court appearance until Tuesday.

"It's too early to tell," Johnson said in regards to Kerr's position as captain. "We need to understand the situation better, and until that time we can't really say anything further.

"We need to allow the process to play out, that is important. Sam has rights as an individual, she has pleaded not guilty, and I think we need to remember that and we need to respect that."

with AAP

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