Kick It Out disclosed that it has logged a historic 1,744 discrimination complaints spanning the professional tiers, grassroots levels and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United initiative. The surge, the organization explained, is partly 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 victims and witnesses greater confidence to come forward, resulting in more than one hundred reports being submitted through the fresh channels alone in the 2025/26 season. While the headline figure might suggest a worsening of football’s cultural climate, Kick It Out cautions against a simplistic interpretation.
The rise in reported incidents should be seen as evidence that marginalized communities are feeling more empowered to speak up and that the organization’s outreach and partnership work is bearing fruit. The charity anticipates that the number of reporting partnerships will continue to grow throughout the 2026/27 season, further widening the net for capturing incidents of prejudice.
Samuel Okafor, the chief executive of Kick It Out, commented on the data: "At a time when discrimination is on the rise and the sport needs decisive action to become more inclusive and truly reflective of all communities, football must unite to confront these challenges. Our Impact Report demonstrates a year of progress achieved alongside both longstanding and new allies, yet we recognise that deeper collaboration will enable us to strengthen our policy work, campaigning, education and reporting mechanisms, ultimately 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 game. The report covers the first twelve months of Football United, a five‑year blueprint launched in September 2025 that is built around four pillars: ensuring everyone feels included, guaranteeing representation on the pitch, fostering leadership opportunities off the pitch, and standing firmly against discrimination.
Key achievements highlighted in the report include the reach of educational programmes: more than 11,000 individuals participated in Kick It Out’s learning sessions, 583 people completed the Raise Your Game development scheme, and 148 took part in the Fan Education initiative. A notable partnership with Guinness 0.0 extended the charity’s influence into the hospitality sector, with over 3,000 Greene King employees receiving training on how to spot and respond to discriminatory behaviour. The 2025/26 season also marked a milestone for transparency, as professional clubs published workforce diversity data for the first time under FA Rule N. This new requirement offers unprecedented insight into the composition of leadership and senior roles across the sport, shining a light on representation gaps that can now be addressed more directly.
Beyond data collection, Kick It Out collaborated with more than 20 organisations to draft proposals for the Independent Football Regulator. These submissions aim to embed board‑level accountability for equality, diversity and inclusion, and to set concrete representation targets for club boards and senior management positions. The charity’s partnership work also tackled a range of pressing issues, including online abuse, sexism and misogyny, faith‑based discrimination, and the broader inclusion of under‑represented groups. Okafor underscored that this is only the first year of a longer journey: "We have ambitious plans for the coming season.
We will broaden grassroots anti‑discrimination education, scale up Fan Education delivery with the backing of the Premier League, and expand the Raise Your Game programme. Our commitment is to keep building a football environment where everyone feels included and united in the fight against discrimination wherever it surfaces." Looking ahead, Kick It Out intends to deepen its engagement with community groups, enhance digital reporting tools, and launch targeted campaigns that address the specific rise in anti‑immigrant language identified in the report. By fostering stronger relationships with organisations that serve women, LGBTQ+ individuals, ethnic minorities and people of faith, the charity hopes to create a more resilient reporting ecosystem that not only captures incidents but also drives preventative education.
In summary, the record number of discrimination reports should be read as a dual signal: a warning that prejudice remains a serious problem in football, and a hopeful indicator that more people are willing to name and challenge that prejudice. With a growing network of partners, expanded educational outreach, and a commitment to transparency, Kick It Out is positioning itself to turn these reports into concrete action, aiming for a sport where inclusion is the norm rather than the exception.
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