Kick It Out has recorded a historic 1,744 instances of discrimination across the professional game, grassroots football and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United initiative. The surge in reports, the organisation explains, is linked to a noticeable uptick in anti‑immigrant rhetoric, but it also reflects the success of newly forged reporting pathways with partners such as Her Game Too, The Frank Soo Foundation and Football v Homophobia. These collaborations have given more individuals the confidence to come forward, resulting in over a hundred submissions through the fresh channels in the 2025/26 season alone.
While the headline figure might appear alarming, Kick It Out cautions against interpreting the rise solely as a sign of a deteriorating football culture. Instead, the data points to a growing willingness among fans, players and community members to flag discriminatory behaviour, as well as stronger ties between the charity and its network of allies. The organisation anticipates that the number of formal reporting partnerships will continue to climb in the 2026/27 season, further widening the net for capturing incidents. Samuel Okafor, chief executive of Kick It Out, underscored the broader context: "At a time when discrimination is on the rise and we need decisive action to make the sport more inclusive and representative of all communities, football must stand together to meet these challenges.
Our Impact Report shows a year of progress alongside existing and new partners, but we know that deeper collaboration can amplify our policy work, campaigning, education and reporting programmes, making the game welcoming for everyone." The Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, paints a vivid picture of the scale of the task ahead as Kick It Out strives to embed inclusion at every level of the sport. The report reviews the first twelve months of Football United, a five‑year blueprint launched in September 2025 that is built around four core ambitions: universal inclusion, representation on the pitch, leadership opportunities off the pitch, and a collective stand against discrimination.
During this initial period, the charity achieved several notable milestones. More than 11,000 individuals participated in its education programmes, ranging from workshops for young players to community sessions for coaches. The Raise Your Game development scheme attracted 583 participants, while 148 people took part in the Fan Education programme, which aims to equip supporters with the tools to recognise and challenge prejudice in stadiums and online.
A landmark partnership with Guinness 0.0 extended Kick It Out’s reach into the hospitality sector. Over 3,000 staff members from the Greene King pub chain received training on how to spot and respond to discriminatory conduct, demonstrating the charity’s commitment to tackling abuse beyond the football ground.
The 2025/26 season also marked a first for professional clubs: under FA Rule N, they were required to publish workforce diversity data, shedding light on the composition of leadership teams and offering a clearer picture of representation at the highest echelons of the game. This transparency is expected to drive further change as clubs become more accountable for their hiring and promotion practices. Kick It Out also collaborated with more than 20 partner organisations to draft proposals for the Independent Football Regulator.
These submissions aim to embed board‑level responsibility for equality, diversity and inclusion, and to set concrete representation targets for club boards and senior management roles. Beyond structural reforms, the charity continued its work on a range of pressing issues.
It joined forces with allies to combat online abuse, tackle sexism and misogyny, address faith‑based discrimination, and promote inclusion for communities that have historically been under‑represented in football. These joint efforts are designed to create a safer, more respectful environment for everyone involved in the sport. Okafor highlighted the forward‑looking agenda: "This is only year one of the strategy, so we know there is so much more to achieve, but we have ambitious plans for the coming season where we will expand grassroots anti‑discrimination education, increase Fan Education delivery with support from the Premier League 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 happens." In summary, the record number of reports should be read as both a warning sign and a measure of progress. It signals that discrimination remains a serious problem, yet it also shows that more people are willing to speak out and that the infrastructure for reporting is improving. As Kick It Out moves into the second year of Football United, the focus will be on deepening existing partnerships, forging new ones, and scaling up educational initiatives to ensure that football truly becomes a sport for all, free from prejudice and open to every community.