Emma Hayes has revealed Lauren James “is not in a very good place” after receiving racist abuse on social media and compared the Chelsea forward’s treatment to that of David Beckham after his red card during the 1998 men’s World Cup.
James, who was suspended for two matches at the Women’s World Cup in the summer after being sent off for stamping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie, has been targeted online since a similar incident during Chelsea’s 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday. She was booked for appearing to stamp on Lia Wälti and substituted by Hayes minutes later.
On Monday, Chelsea condemned the online abuse. Hayes has suggested James is a victim of “racial profiling” by the media as well as by fans. Before the Champions League group game on Thursday at home against the Swedish side Häcken, Hayes blamed the media’s reaction to James’s red card at the World Cup for making her a target for opposition players.
“She’s not in a great place if I’m honest,” the Chelsea manager said. “I think when it starts from broadcasting and the way they speak about things, 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. 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.
“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 goes over the edge.
“And if you add racism to that for her, you can understand why her mental health is not in a very good place this week.”
Hayes said other players in the Women’s Super League had been through “their own challenging moments” but had not received the same criticism as James. “I think it’s disgusting the amount of abuse she’s received from the public, from the media. You’re talking about a young player here, who no question is always working to learn in the background,” she said. “Some of the language I’ve seen used to vilify her certainly 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. It’s fair to say that if I’m in her position I’d be thinking there is racial profiling going on.”
James said in August that she would “learn from [the] experience” after apologising to Alozie for her behaviour. She came on as a half-time substitute in England’s defeat by Spain in the World Cup final after serving her suspension.
