England are through to the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup – but they will be without Lauren James when they play Colombia in the last eight.
James was sent off for stamping on the back of Nigeria player Michelle Alozie during the Lionesses’ last-16 tie.
The 21-year-old, who has been England’s player of the tournament, was initially shown a yellow card by the referee, but VAR recommended a review and the yellow card was upgraded to red after the act of petulance.
After receiving a red card, James is automatically suspended for England’s next match, however her punishment will be reviewed by a Fifa disciplinary panel.
If the forward is deemed to have committed a serious act of foul play, the panel have the power to apply further sanctions.
A three-match ban would see James ruled out for the rest of the tournament if England were to reach their first-ever Women’s World Cup final.
A decision might not be made until after England’s quarter-final, however, once James serves her automatic one-match ban.
Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun was given a three-match ban after she was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Canada’s Ashley Lawrence in the group stage, but her ban was not increased until after she had served the first game.
James has been England’s player of the World Cup but was left frustrated after Nigeria marked her out of the game and lashed out, with manager Sarina Wiegman admitting she “lost her emotions”.
Wiegman, who had not watched the incident back, did not criticise James and said: “She’s an inexperienced player on this stage and has done really well, and I think in a split second she just lost her emotions.
“And of course she doesn’t want to hurt anyone. She’s the sweetest person I know, and things happen like that and you can’t change it anymore, so it’s a huge lesson for her to learn, but of course it’s not something that she really did on purpose.”
England defender Lucy Bronze said James was “upset” as the Chelsea star waits for the disciplinary panel’s verdict, which may not come until after England’s quarter-final on Saturday.
“Obviously she’s going to be disappointed in herself,” Bronze said. “I went straight off the pitch after the game to make sure she was OK. Obviously she was a little bit upset and rightfully so and more than anything she just feels bad for the team. I said to her, ‘We’ve made it through. It’s a team, it’s not just one player.’”
