Reports of racist abuse in English football rose by 43% in the 2018/19 season

Football’s equality and inclusion organisation, Kick It Out releases their annual discrimination reporting stats for the 2018/19 season which reveal a 32% rise in incidents across the professional game and grassroots reported to them.

Kick It Out’s annual reporting summary for the 2018/19 season:

• Reports rose to 422 in 2018/19, up from 319 in the previous year
• Incidents of racism continue to rise and it remains the most common form of discrimination in both professional and grassroots football - 43% rise from 2017/18
• Faith-based discrimination, which includes Islamophobia and antisemitism, rose higher than any other across this period, with reports increasing by 75% from 36 to 63
• Discrimination related to sexual orientation increased by 12% from 61 to 68. Reports related to gender remained at the same level (eight), while disability discrimination reports dropped from 15 to nine
• In the overall figures, which include social media incidents, discrimination reports increased to 581, a 12% rise from the season before (520)
• Discrimination reports in the professional game rose by 46 per cent to 313, with an outcome received in 62% of cases
• The organisation received 159 discrimination reports from social media in 2018/19. Again, the most common form of reported incidents was racism (62%)

Please click here to visit Kick It Out’s reporting statistics.