LONDON (AP) — A second man has been arrested in relation to abusive social media messages sent to England player Jess Carter at the Women’s European Championship, police said on Thursday.

A 30-year-old from Ripley, Derbyshire, was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications and released on bail.

It follows the arrest of a 59-year-old man from Great Harwood on Aug. 28 as part of the same investigation, police said.

The U.K. Football Policing Unit launched an investigation after reports in July that England defender Carter received “racist and abusive messages.”

Carter, who has an African American father and plays her club soccer for Gotham FC in the U.S., revealed during Euro 2025 in Switzerland that she was racially abused online. England ultimately won.

“Nobody should be subjected to such disgusting abuse, and we want to make it clear that racist abuse of this nature will not be tolerated,” said Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who is the National Police Chief Council lead for football policing. “Everyone is responsible for what they do and say, and we want to ensure offenders cannot hide behind a social media profile to post vile comments.”

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