Kick It Out announced that it has logged a historic 1,744 discrimination complaints spanning professional football, grassroots initiatives and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United programme. The surge, the charity explains, is partly driven by a noticeable rise 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 one hundred reports being submitted through these 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 organization argues that the higher number of reports signals growing trust among marginalized groups and a stronger network of allies willing to document incidents. The charity expects the roster of reporting partners to expand further in the 2026/27 season, which should continue to encourage people to speak up.
Samuel Okafor, the chief executive of Kick It Out, commented on the findings: "At a time when discrimination is on the rise and the game needs concrete steps to become more inclusive and representative of all communities, football must unite to confront these challenges. Our Impact Report shows a year of progress made alongside both existing and new partners, yet we recognise that deeper collaboration will allow us to enhance our policy work, campaigning, education and reporting programmes, ultimately making the sport welcoming for everyone." The Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, paints a vivid picture of the scale of the work ahead. It outlines the first twelve months of Football United, a five‑year blueprint launched in September 2025 that is built around four core ambitions: ensuring inclusion for everyone, achieving representation on the pitch, fostering leadership opportunities off the pitch, and standing firmly against discrimination.
Beyond the headline statistics, the report highlights a range of other achievements. More than 11,000 individuals participated in Kick It Out’s education programmes, while 583 people completed the "Raise Your Game" development scheme and 148 engaged in Fan Education sessions. A notable partnership with Guinness 0.0 enabled the charity to bring its anti‑discrimination training into the hospitality sector; over 3,000 staff members at Greene King pubs received instruction on how to spot and respond to discriminatory behaviour.
The 2025/26 season also marked a milestone for transparency in the professional game. For the first time, clubs published workforce diversity data under FA Rule N, shedding light on the composition of leadership roles across the sport.
Kick It Out played a pivotal role in this development, collaborating with more than 20 organisations to submit proposals to the Independent Football Regulator. These proposals aimed to boost board‑level accountability for equality, diversity and inclusion, and to set clear representation targets for club boards and senior management positions.
The charity’s work during the year extended to a broad spectrum of issues, including tackling online abuse, confronting sexism and misogyny, addressing faith‑based discrimination, and promoting inclusion for under‑represented communities. By partnering with specialist groups, Kick It Out has been able to develop targeted interventions and educational resources that resonate with diverse audiences. Okafor added: "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, Kick It Out intends to broaden its grassroots outreach, delivering more workshops in community clubs and schools to embed inclusive values from the earliest stages of participation.
The organisation also plans to scale up its Fan Education programme, leveraging the Premier League’s platform to reach a wider audience of supporters and to equip them with tools to challenge hateful behaviour in stadiums and online. The "Raise Your Game" initiative, which focuses on developing leadership skills among young people from diverse backgrounds, will receive additional funding to increase its cohort size and to introduce mentorship components.
In parallel, the charity will continue to advocate for stronger governance measures within the sport. By working closely with the Independent Football Regulator and the FA, Kick It Out aims to embed mandatory reporting mechanisms, enforceable diversity targets, and regular audits of club cultures.
These steps are designed to create a sustainable framework that not only records incidents but also prevents them. The report concludes that while the rise in reported cases may initially appear alarming, it is, in fact, a sign of progress: more victims and witnesses are feeling empowered to speak out, and the football ecosystem is becoming more attuned to the need for systemic change. As the Football United strategy moves into its second year, Kick It Out remains committed to fostering a sport where inclusion is the norm, representation is reflective of society, and discrimination has no place.
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