Just days after helping England win the Women’s Euro 2025, Lioness goalkeeper Khiara Keating has pulled off another remarkable feat – becoming the first European champion to be found guilty of car tax evasion in the same week.
Keating, 21, was part of the jubilant squad that edged Spain on penalties and celebrated with both medals and political handshakes on the steps of Downing Street. But while her teammates were still nursing hangovers and Instagram likes, Keating was busy getting mugshotted by HMRC.
On Wednesday 30 July, barely 72 hours after Downing Street selfies, Keating was convicted in her absence at Tameside Magistrates’ Court for operating a Volkswagen Polo with all the legal compliance of a shopping trolley.
According to police, the goalkeeper’s car was spotted on the M60 in Bury back in December with no tax, a tax that had expired in August 2023, which is frankly the sort of defensive lapse we haven’t seen from her on the pitch.
Despite not attending court (presumably too busy doing keepy-uppies with her penalty bonus), Keating was slapped with a £440 fine, nearly £80 in backdated tax, and £120 in costs. Or, as it’s known in Premier League circles, one sock.
Football fans are now speculating whether Keating simply forgot, assumed someone else sorted it, or thought “Road Tax” was a type of tactical formation.
In a statement not actually released but definitely imagined, the DVLA reminded the public: “Winning a European championship doesn’t make you exempt from boring admin.”
Keating now joins a long list of footballers whose greatest off-pitch battle has been with bureaucracy. She is expected to start England’s next match, assuming she can get there legally.
