Lauren James avoided a red card for her stamp on Lia Walti during Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal (Getty)
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes believes Lauren James has been the subject of ‘racial profiling’ after the abuse she received following the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
James avoided a red card for stamping on Lia Walti during Chelsea’s first loss in the Women’s Super League this season.
Earlier this week, Chelsea condemned the racial abuse directed towards Lauren James, while in her press conference on Wednesday, Hayes revealed the 22-year-old ‘is not in a great place’ mentally.
‘I think it’s disgusting, the amount of abuse she has received from the public, from the media, from the press,’ Hayes said.
‘We’re talking about a young player who, no question, is always working to learn in the background but some of the language I have seen used to vilify her externally I think is unacceptable.
‘I don’t see the same level of abuse attributed to other players in the league who might have had their own challenging moments.
‘I think it’s fair to say, if I were in her position, I would think there is racial profiling going on.
‘I think it is important for the country to recognise she is an important talent, she is learning all the time and she make mistakes, but some of the derogatory and very misleading conversations that are happening during the commentaries during games and on social media are things that everyone should reflect upon.’
Lauren James has been subjected to racial abuse after the incident in Chelsea’s loss to Arsenal (Getty)
Hayes added: ‘She’s not in a great place, if I’m honest.
‘When it starts from broadcasting and the way they speak about things that maybe they need to reflect on, labelling players, she’s a young player, she made an error in the summer, of course she has to keep learning those things, but they aren’t done in single segments, it’s always ongoing work.
‘When I say she’s a young player, there’s nothing consistent in some of those things that happen, both in terms of performance and outcomes, my job as a coach is to keep teaching her, to find those levels of consistency and keep challenging here on the important things.
‘Of course, every opponent tries everything possible to get Lauren red-carded. That’s been clear in every game we’ve played and she has to learn to handle that, she has to learn to do that.
‘When she gets antagonised in a certain way, managing emotions comes with maturity and that isn’t there yet with her.
‘It reminds me very much of David Beckham in many ways when he got red-carded in the World Cup.
‘I think the treatment of Lauren is sometimes very similar and I think we have to realise for a young person, in a day and age when social media is unbelievably vitriolic, some of the nasty language and labelling and name-calling I think goes over the edge.
‘And then you add racism to that for her, you can understand why her mental health is not in the very best place this week.’
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