It may not be apparent right now, but despite Sam Kerr's not guilty verdict for racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, the case represents a turning point for sport in Australia. Why? Because this is the first time, a high-profile Australian sportswoman has faced a scandal of this nature — one that was played out in excruciating detail. And not just any sportswoman, it's Sam Kerr: the golden child and outrageously talented star and captain of the country's most popular sports team, the Matildas. Thanks to a video tended as evidence in court, we've seen her after a drunken night out — tired and emotional at best, foul-mouthed and arrogant at worst. "We can take away the accusations now, we can take away the allegations as they stood," said the former Matilda and current ABC commentator, Elissia Carnavas. "The behaviour I think is probably the more shocking part for the public, the more shocking part for people to see Sam how she acted in that situation," she said. Kerr addressed that behaviour in a statement released on Wednesday saying: "While I apologise for expressing myself poorly on what was a traumatic evening, I have always maintained that I did not intend to insult or harm anyone and I am thankful that the jury unanimously agreed." But will that apology be enough? Kerr has established a reputation and brand based almost exclusively on her exploits on the sporting field, which has made her one of the most marketable athletes in the country. The goals, the back-flips, the sheer skill has seen her become the face of a new generation of female sports stars and the focus of a nation's adoration. Her football exploits have won her valuable endorsements with global sports clothing company, Nike, as well as Mastercard earning her millions. She was also the first female footballer to appear on the cover of the global version of the FIFA video game. But how well do you know her? Kerr is a sports star characterised by actions rather than words. By all accounts — including some aired in court by her teammates last week — she's quiet and somewhat introverted. Kerr is not one of those athletes inclined to speak her mind on issues outside of her sport in the same way that we've seen the Australian men's cricket captain, Pat Cummins, address issues around climate change, or Boomers captain, Patty Mills, talk about issues of race. Players in the Women's National Basketball League have spoken out about domestic violence, while AFLW players have taken a stand against homophobia. Kerr did speak out on the Matildas' decision to wear rainbow coloured numbers in support of Sydney WorldPride in 2023. But by and large, her personality has remained hidden behind the public appearances on the field and the odd social media spruik — like the announcement that her fiancé Kristie Mewis is pregnant. Which has made the revelations in her London court case more dramatic for the sheer contrast to the public image. The case related to an altercation in January 2023 — six months before the FIFA Women's World Cup kicked off in Australia and New Zealand, in which Kerr played some telling cameos, while also missing key matches due to a calf injury. She failed to tell Football Australia about the incident. This is not the place for an argument over the rights and wrongs of the case — that was decided by the jury. But the Australian public and her sponsors will make a judgement about the events that transpired in 2023 after Kerr and Mewis went out for the night and their subsequent actions in a taxi after they decided to head home, despite the not guilty verdict. The bulk of the arguments put forward by the prosecution and the defence in the court case revolved around the allegation that Kerr vomited in a taxi and refused to a clean-up bill. Much of the evidence in court focused on the altercation at a Twickenham police station. A half-hour police body cam recording tendered as evidence is painful to watch as Kerr and Mewis argue with PC Lovell and two other police officers. The video is characterised by each party talking over the top of each other and frequently at cross purposes. Only Kerr is visible in the video, with Mewis and the police officers blurred out of the shot. In the video, Kerr who is clearly still drunk and very angry, alternately pleads with the police, shouts and swears at them, threatens to call in the lawyers of her club side, Chelsea, and post a recording she's making on her phone on social media. "You're literally a white privileged man," Kerr told PC Lovell. "You guys are f***ing stupid and white. Honestly, you guys are f***ing stupid and white." Kerr is heard saying in the body cam footage "you're irrelevant". "So are you," replied PC Lovell as the exchange descends into childish slanging match. Mewis spends much of the video in tears. After she is arrested Kerr asks the police officers whether they'll also arrest the cab driver, but here, her language and state of mind is particularly out of kilter. "Can we make arrestage (sic) for hostage," she asks. She told the court she was embarrassed by the video. In it Sam Kerr is laid bare: At times she appeared upset and scared, at other times it is a sometimes drunken, angry, boastful version of her on show. The issue now is how will her adoring public react to what they've seen. Will the not guilty verdict, protect her endorsements and public standing, or has some of the mud from the trial stuck? The issue now is how will her adoring public react to what they've seen and will that in turn affect her endorsements. Will the public take offence at her behaviour or feel sympathy at the situation she found herself in? Football Australia is hedging its bets, refusing to endorse Kerr to continue as the Matildas captain when she returns the team, which could be as early as April when the Matildas play a series of matches against South Korea. In a statement, the organisation acknowledged the not guilty verdict and welcomed her statement but made a point of emphasising the standards it expects from its leaders. "Football Australia invests heavily in building the behavioural standards and expectations of all involved with our game, especially for all our national team players, where leadership comes with added responsibilities on and off the field," the statement said. "Football Australia will reflect with Sam on learnings from this matter and we will continue to provide appropriate support for her moving forward." Carnavas said it might be time for Kerr to fall on her sword. "Is it an optimum time for Sam to hand back the arm band? I think it would be a reflection of her character if she did," Carnavas said. "Putting the team first, putting the organisation first and the Matildas as well I think is really important. "It's not just damaging to her brand, it's damaging to the brand of women's football," former Socceroo Bruce Djite told the ABC's Offsiders program, before the verdict was handed down." Kerr has hired a PR team who told ABC Sport she hadn't lost any commercial or endorsement deals, and that her sponsors continued to support her. The general manager of the media advisory agency, Pearman Media, Katy Lozancic said Kerr's brand is intimately tied in with that of the Matildas. "She's linked with someone who's really inclusive, really family friendly," Lozancic said. "And I think she's someone that people would say that she was an inspiration to other young women, young females that want to make their way in sport." But Lozancic said Kerr's brand has suffered because of the court case. "It will undoubtedly have an impact on commercial arrangements for her and brands will certainly be looking at that quite carefully thinking how best it impacts on their business," she said. "It is quite jarring to see that behaviour and it definitely is quite uncomfortable viewing, based on what we've seen from her and what the Matildas represent and how jarring it is against those values as well. "I would say she will have a challenging six months, and she will have to have a period of rehabilitation," she said. Tim Harcourt, the chief economist at the Centre for Sport at the University of Technology Sydney, agreed that there will be negative fallout for Kerr. "The evidence that she's given, the videos, I reckon that's going to damage her brand for sure," Professor Harcourt told ABC Sport. "Like it or not, companies do think about public perceptions, so I think it's going to have an adverse impact." Professor Harcourt has written on the economic drawing power of the Matildas, and when it comes to the court of public opinion, he believes the case will have an impact. "I do think these things affect people and affect perception, because advertising and PR is all about perception," he said. "Aussies love a winner, they back anyone in the green and gold who's a winner. "But they don't like, 'Do you know who I am?' sort of stuff. "And when you watch that video, 'I'll get my Chelsea lawyers onto it', they don't really like that. "The pub test won't be good." Professor Harcourt believes Kerr's star may already be waning — not only because of the court case, but because she hasn't played for over a year as she recovers from knee surgery for an ACL injury. "I think (striker) Mary Fowler was becoming the star of Australian soccer," he said. "We've been through that the peak of the Sam Kerr brand and now it's brand Fowler and some of the others coming through." What is unique about the Kerr case is that this is the first time an Australian woman of her sporting fame has been embroiled in a scandal of this magnitude. Recent history is replete with examples of men behaving in ways that may 'bring the game into disrepute' to use the common parlance. Many have paid a heavy price — losing positions of authority and facing lengthy suspensions. The sandpaper trio of Test cricketers, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cam Bancroft are the highest-profile ones, but there have been many others. But one of the difficulties of measuring the Kerr case against others is that it is so nuanced and unique. It does, however, raise the question of whether women are treated differently to men and whether that will change as the rise of women's sport continues. The case of basketballer, Liz Cambage, was another high-profile scandal involving an Australian sportswomen. Cambage was found guilty of prohibitive conduct by an independent panel after allegedly racially abusing Nigerian players prior to the Tokyo Olympics. She never played for Australia's national team, the Opals, again. Until now women have either behaved better than their male counterparts — and let's face it, in certain sports the bar has been set so low by their male counterparts it's hard to imagine how women could be any worse. Vomiting in a taxi is small fry compared to some of the scandals that have beset the NRL and AFL for example. Or is it possible that in some cases women have simply never been caught behaving badly? Of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen, but commonsense and the numbers suggest women are more inclined to behave themselves. It doesn't mean it couldn't happen. If the current case may be bad for Kerr, Professor Harcourt thinks it will be good for women's sport if it forces governing bodies to act more forcefully on transgressions that until now may have been swept under the carpet. "This is actually a positive for women's sport and it shows that we take women's sport seriously," Professor Harcourt said. "I think the great stars of women's sport in the future, they deserve that." "I wouldn't say we'll ever look back at this and say it was a good thing," Lozancic said. "But what it might do is kind of open the conversation and help some of those organisations know how best to deal with it and those individuals. "It's a painful situation for her personally and for women's sport. But I think it's just those expectations the discourse, that understanding on and how we best deal with this in the future will be useful," Lozancic said. The retirement of Ash Barty made Kerr the undisputed star of women's sport in Australia. Sam Kerr has been found not guilty of racially abusing a police officer. But the court case was also a defining moment on whether she can maintain her position at the pinnacle of Australian women's sport.