Australia, Chelsea star Sam Kerr pleads not guilty to racially aggravated harassment

Australia soccer player Sam Kerr has pleaded not guilty to racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, prosecutors in Britain said on Monday.

The striker, who plays her club soccer for Chelsea in England, was charged with causing a police officer harassment, alarm or distress during an incident in Twickenham, southwest London, on Jan. 30 last year, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The PA news agency in Britain reported that London’s Metropolitan Police said the incident involved an officer who was responding to a complaint about a taxi fare.

Kerr denied the charge at a plea and trial preparation hearing at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court on Monday, the Press Association reported.

Chelsea has not commented officially about the reported incident.

Kerr is currently sidelined after an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a warm-weather training camp with Chelsea women’s team in Morocco in January.

Reporting by The Associated Press.