Kick It Out announced that it has logged a historic total of 1,744 discrimination complaints across the professional tiers, grassroots levels and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United programme. 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 a wider range of individuals the confidence to come forward, resulting in more than one hundred submissions through the fresh channels in the 2025/26 season alone. While the headline figure might suggest a worsening of football’s cultural climate, Kick It Out cautions against a simplistic interpretation.
The rise in complaints should be read as a sign that communities are feeling more empowered to speak up and that the organisation’s outreach and partnership work is bearing fruit. The charity expects the network of reporting partners to expand further in the 2026/27 season, broadening the safety net for those who experience prejudice on or off the pitch.
Samuel Okafor, chief executive of Kick It Out, underscored the broader context: "At a time when discrimination is on the rise and the sport needs decisive action to become truly inclusive and reflective of all communities, football must unite to meet these challenges. Our Impact Report demonstrates a year of progress made alongside both existing and new allies, but we recognise that deeper collaboration will allow us to strengthen policy, campaigning, education and reporting initiatives, ultimately creating a more welcoming environment for everyone." The Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, paints a vivid picture of the scale of the work ahead. It documents the first twelve months of Football United, a five‑year strategic plan launched in September 2025 that is built around four core ambitions: universal inclusion, representation on the field, leadership off the field, and a zero‑tolerance stance on discrimination.
Key achievements highlighted in the report include: * Over 11,000 participants engaged with Kick It Out’s education programmes, ranging from workshops for young players to training sessions for club staff. * 583 individuals completed the "Raise Your Game" development scheme, a curriculum designed to nurture leadership and anti‑discrimination skills among emerging talent. * 148 people took part in the Fan Education initiative, which equips supporters with the tools to recognise and challenge abusive behaviour in stadiums and online.
* A landmark partnership with Guinness 0.0 enabled the charity to extend its outreach into the hospitality sector, delivering discrimination‑recognition training to more than 3,000 Greene King employees. * For the first time, professional clubs released workforce diversity statistics under FA Rule N, shedding light on the composition of leadership roles and prompting a dialogue about representation at the highest levels of the game.
Beyond these milestones, Kick It Out collaborated with more than twenty partner organisations to submit policy proposals to the Independent Football Regulator. These submissions aim to embed stronger board‑level accountability for equality, diversity and inclusion, and to set concrete representation targets for club boards and senior management.
The charity’s work also tackled a spectrum of pressing issues, including online abuse, sexism and misogyny, faith‑based discrimination, and the broader inclusion of under‑represented groups. By joining forces with specialist groups, Kick It Out has been able to develop tailored resources and campaigns that address the nuanced ways prejudice manifests within football culture.
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." Looking ahead, the organisation intends to broaden its grassroots programmes, reaching more community clubs and schools with tailored workshops that address both overt and subtle forms of bias. The next phase of Fan Education will see a deeper partnership with the Premier League, leveraging its platform to disseminate anti‑abuse messaging to millions of supporters worldwide.
Meanwhile, the "Raise Your Game" initiative will be scaled up to accommodate a larger cohort of aspiring leaders, providing mentorship, networking opportunities and practical tools for effecting change within clubs and governing bodies. In summary, while the record number of discrimination reports may initially appear alarming, Kick It Out frames it as a positive indicator of growing awareness and willingness to confront prejudice. The data, combined with expanded education outreach, new reporting partnerships and concrete policy advocacy, suggests that football is moving toward a more inclusive future—one where every participant, from player to fan, can feel safe, respected and represented.