Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor says Sam Kerr’s apology “is enough” and that the club will not be taking any further disciplinary action following the player’s court case.
On Tuesday, Kerr was found not guilty of causing racially aggravated harassment after calling a Metropolitan Police officer “stupid and white” following an incident in Twickenham on 30 January 2023.
After the case, the 31-year-old Australia international apologised “for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening”.
Bompastor said: “Sam made a statement, she apologised and I think that is enough.
“Everyone can make mistakes and that’s what you learn from and that’s how you move forward.
“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.”
Kerr, who joined Chelsea in 2019, has not played since the end of 2023 after suffering a serious knee injury during a winter training camp in January 2024.
Bompastor said it was “difficult to give a precise time frame” for Kerr’s return, but that she is “progressing well” in training.
The trial heard Kerr and her partner Kristie Mewis had been out drinking when they were driven to Twickenham Police Station by a taxi driver who complained that they had refused to pay clean-up costs after Kerr was sick, and Mewis had smashed the vehicle’s rear window.
Kerr said she and her partner had feared for their lives and in an expletive-laden exchange, accused one of the police officers of being “stupid and white”.
The Chelsea striker, who made the comments to PC Stephen Lovell, did not deny using the words “stupid and white” but denied it amounted to a racial offence.
Bompastor, who has been in charge at Chelsea since succeeding Emma Hayes in May, said she was “surprised” Kerr was involved in a court case.
“Who she is doesn’t reflect what I heard in the court and what I was reading in the newspapers,” Bompastor said.
“Sam, she’s a really shy person and she just wants to live a life, she doesn’t like to be in the light, shining. She’s a really normal person and she likes to be quiet.”
Bompastor, who said she had been in contact with Kerr during the trial, added: “We really know her, we are probably, along with her family, the ones who know her the most.
“It was difficult to see her in that situation. We are family and we were really supporting and I’m really glad the verdict was positive and now she can move forward.”
Chelsea hold a seven-point lead at the top of the Women’s Super League, while they also remain in the hunt for the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.
