Lauren James, a forward for England, has expressed regret for receiving a red card during her team’s Women’s World Cup match against Nigeria and said she will take lessons from the incident.
After a VAR review, she was dismissed for stomping on Michelle Alozie’s back during a match that England won on penalties.
Due to this action, James will be suspended for Saturday’s quarter finals against Colombia.
On social media, she left a message to Alozie saying, “All my love and respect to you. I am sorry for what happened.” She further wrote to her teammates, “Also, for our England fans and my team-mates, playing with and for you is my greatest honour and I promise to learn from my experience.”
With three goals and three assists, the 21-year-old was a standout in England’s group games.
Although FIFA has not specified a deadline for making a decision, it is possible that she may be suspended for more than one match and therefore miss the remainder of the tournament, even if England wins.
England then released a statement saying, “Lauren is really sorry for her actions which led to the red card and is full of remorse. It is wholly out of character for her. We will be supporting Lauren throughout and will be putting forward representation on her behalf
“We fully respect Fifa’s disciplinary process and will not be making any further comment until after any decision has been made.”
Nigeria’s Alozie, who plays for Houston Dash in the US, had posted: “We are playing on the world’s stage. This game is one of passion, insurmountable emotions, and moments. All respect for Lauren James.”
Sarina Wiegman, England’s manager, spoke after the game saying, “She is inexperienced on this stage and in a split-second lost her emotions. It isn’t something she did on purpose. She apologised and felt really bad. She would never want to hurt someone. She is the sweetest person I know.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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