Kick It Out announced that it has logged a historic 1,744 discrimination complaints across the professional tiers, grassroots levels and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United programme. The surge, the organisation explained, is linked to a noticeable rise in anti‑immigrant rhetoric, but also to stronger reporting pathways forged 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 one hundred reports being submitted through the new channels alone in the 2025/26 season.
While the headline figure may appear alarming, Kick It Out cautions against interpreting the rise solely as a sign that football culture is deteriorating. Instead, the charity argues that the data reflects growing trust among marginalized groups and a willingness to use the mechanisms now in place. The organisation expects the number of reporting partnerships to expand further in the 2026/27 season, widening the net for future disclosures. Samuel Okafor, chief executive of Kick It Out, stressed the broader context: "At a time when discrimination is on the upswing and we need decisive action to make the sport more inclusive and representative of all communities, football must unite to meet these challenges.
Our Impact Report shows a year of progress alongside both existing and new partners, but we recognise that deeper collaboration can strengthen our policy work, campaigning, education and reporting programmes, ultimately creating a game that welcomes everyone." The Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, paints a vivid picture of the scale of the task ahead as the charity works to embed inclusion throughout the sport. The report covers the first twelve months of Football United, a five‑year strategy launched in September 2025 that is built around four pillars: universal inclusion, representation on the pitch, leadership off the pitch, and a collective stand against discrimination.
During this initial period, Kick It Out highlighted several key achievements. More than 11,000 participants engaged with its education programmes, while 583 individuals completed the Raise Your Game development scheme and 148 took part in Fan Education sessions. A notable partnership with Guinness 0.0 enabled the charity to extend its reach into public houses, delivering discrimination‑recognition training to over 3,000 Greene King employees.
The 2025/26 season also marked a milestone for transparency: professional clubs, for the first time, published workforce diversity data in line with FA Rule N. This move offered unprecedented insight into the representation of women, ethnic minorities and other under‑represented groups within club leadership and senior roles. Kick It Out further reported that it collaborated with more than 20 organisations to draft proposals for the Independent Football Regulator.
These submissions aim to boost board‑level accountability on equality, diversity and inclusion, and to set clear representation targets for club boards and senior management positions. The charity’s work with partners also tackled a range of pressing issues, including online abuse, sexism and misogyny, faith‑based discrimination, and broader inclusion for communities that have historically been left out of the football conversation.
Okafor added that this is only the first year of the Football United agenda and that much remains to be accomplished. "We have ambitious plans for the coming season," he said. "We will broaden grassroots anti‑discrimination education, increase the delivery of Fan Education with the backing of the Premier League, and grow the Raise Your Game programme.
Our aim is to keep building a sport where everyone feels included and where we stand together against discrimination wherever it surfaces." Looking ahead, the charity intends to deepen its engagement with schools, community clubs and local authorities, ensuring that anti‑discrimination messages reach young players at the earliest possible stage. It also plans to launch a digital toolkit for coaches, providing practical guidance on spotting and responding to bias in training environments. By expanding its data‑collection capabilities, Kick It Out hopes to produce more granular reports that can pinpoint problem areas and inform targeted interventions. In summary, the record number of reports should be seen as a double‑edged indicator: it highlights a troubling uptick in hostile language, yet simultaneously demonstrates that more people feel empowered to report wrongdoing.
With a growing network of partners, an expanding suite of educational resources, and a clear strategic roadmap, Kick It Out is positioning itself to turn these statistics into actionable change, striving for a football landscape where inclusion is the norm rather than the exception. Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.