Kelly Smith, the Arsenal Ladies’ captain and assistant coach, has been reminded of her responsibilities by the Football Association following comments about Sunderland Ladies’ Abby Holmes.
Smith, who retired from international football in February as England’s record scorer, needed surgery on torn ankle ligaments following a tackle by Holmes in last month’s 4-1 win over Sunderland.
The 36-year-old, a nominee for the PFA’s player of the year award, wrote on kicca.com: “I hope to be fully fit in three to four months’ time … right now, though, all I can think about is the tackle that ended my season and could have ended my career. And if I hadn’t retired from international football, it would have definitely ended my World Cup this summer.”
A spokesperson for Sunderland AFC Ladies said: “We reported Kelly Smith to the FA as we believe that her public statement is a breach of FA regulations and the players’ code of conduct.
“Abby strongly denies claims that there was any malicious intent in the challenge or that it was premeditated. Furthermore, she is taking legal advice regarding the nature of the remarks and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further at the present time.”
