Kick It Out Logs Record 1,744 Discrimination Complaints in First Year of Football United Strategy

Kick It Out recorded a record 1,744 discrimination reports across professional football, grassroots, and online platforms during the first year of its Football United strategy.

The organization attributes the rise to increased anti-immigrant rhetoric and notes that stronger reporting links with groups such as Her Game Too, The Frank Soo Foundation, and Football v Homophobia have encouraged more individuals to come forward.

Over 100 of those reports were submitted via the newly established reporting channels during the 2025/26 season.

Kick It Out cautions that the rise in reports should not be interpreted as a decline in football’s culture, highlighting greater community confidence in reporting and strengthened ties with partner organizations.

The count of reporting partnerships is projected to grow during the 2026/27 season.

Samuel Okafor, chief executive of Kick It Out, stated: “At a time of rising discrimination and a need for action to make football more inclusive and representative of all communities, the sport must unite to address its challenges.”

Although our Impact Report demonstrates a year of progress collaborating with existing and new partners, we recognize that continued cooperation will enable us to expand our policies, campaigns, education, and reporting initiatives, making the game more welcoming for all.

Kick It Out’s Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, underscores the magnitude of the challenge football faces as the organization strives to become more inclusive and representative.

The report details the inaugural year of Football United, a five‑year strategy launched in September 2025, which sets four core goals: universal inclusion; representation on the pitch; leadership off the pitch; and collective action against discrimination.

The organization also spotlighted several additional achievements during the strategy’s first year.

Over 11,000 individuals participated in Kick It Out education programmes, 583 attended its Raise Your Game development programme, and 148 joined Fan Education sessions.

A partnership with Guinness 0.0 brought Kick It Out’s initiatives into pubs, where more than 3,000 Greene King staff received training on recognising and responding to discrimination.

At the start of the 2025/26 season, professional clubs began publishing workforce diversity data for the first time under FA Rule N, enhancing visibility of representation in leadership roles throughout the game.

Kick It Out collaborated with over 20 organisations to submit proposals to the Independent Football Regulator, fostering greater board‑level accountability for equality, diversity, inclusion, and representation targets on club boards and senior leadership.

The organization also partnered with others to address online abuse, sexism, misogyny, faith‑based discrimination, and to promote inclusion of underrepresented communities.

Okafor added: “This is only the first year of the strategy, and although there is much more to achieve, we have ambitious plans for the coming season to expand grassroots anti‑discrimination education, increase Fan Education delivery with Premier League support, and grow Raise Your Game.”

We are determined to keep building a game where everyone is included, and everyone is united in tackling discrimination wherever it occurs.

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