FA can only kick the can down the road for so much longer and a bold decision will have to be made before the Matildas’ next fixtures in April

It has been more than two years since Sam Kerr’s night out in south London ended in a dispute with a taxi driver and soon afterwards a heated exchange in a police station. In the meantime the star striker has led the Matildas at a Women’s World Cup, added to the trophies and honours she has won with club side Chelsea, and been sidelined for more than a year with a serious knee injury.

Kerr also had a criminal charge stemming from that turbulent night in January 2023 hanging over her head, after she was charged with racially aggravated harassment for calling a police officer “fucking stupid and white”. That legal case finally came to a close this week when the 31-year-old was found not guilty, but the shock waves from the incident that gripped football fans and more casual observers on both sides of the globe are still to abate.