Kick It Out announced that it has logged an unprecedented 1,744 discrimination complaints across the professional game, grassroots football and online platforms during the inaugural year of its Football United programme. The surge, the organisation explains, is linked to a noticeable rise in anti‑immigrant rhetoric, but it also reflects the success of new reporting pathways that have been forged with partners such as Her Game Too, the Frank Soo Foundation and Football v Homophobia. These collaborations have given a broader range of individuals the confidence to come forward and register incidents they experience or witness. During the 2025/26 campaign more than one hundred of the total reports were submitted via these freshly‑established channels, underscoring the importance of strategic alliances in surfacing hidden abuse.
While the headline figure might appear alarming, Kick It Out cautions against interpreting it solely as a sign that football culture is deteriorating. Instead, the rise is partly a symptom of growing trust among minority and marginalized communities that their concerns will be taken seriously, and a testament to the organisation’s improved relationships with advocacy groups. Looking ahead, the charity expects the network of reporting partners to expand further in the 2026/27 season, creating even more avenues for people to flag discriminatory behaviour.
Samuel Okafor, the chief executive of Kick It Out, emphasised the broader context: "At a time of rising discrimination and where we need action to make the game more inclusive and representative of all communities, football must be more united to take on its challenges." He added that the Impact Report for the first year of Football United demonstrates tangible progress made in partnership with both long‑standing and newly‑engaged allies. "Although our Impact Report shows a year of progress working alongside existing and new partners, we know that with further collaboration we can build on our policy, campaigning, education and reporting programmes to make the game more welcoming for everyone," Okafor said.
The Year One Impact Report, released on Tuesday, paints a vivid picture of the scale of the task ahead. Football United, a five‑year blueprint launched in September 2025, is built around four core ambitions: universal inclusion, representation on the pitch, leadership opportunities off the pitch, and a collective stand against discrimination.
The report details how the initiative has already begun to shift the landscape. Education has been a cornerstone of the effort. Over 11,000 individuals participated in Kick It Out’s learning programmes, ranging from workshops for coaches to community sessions for fans.
The Raise Your Game development scheme attracted 583 participants, while 148 people took part in the dedicated Fan Education modules designed to empower supporters to recognise and challenge prejudice. A notable partnership with Guinness 0.0 extended the reach of these messages beyond stadiums and training grounds and into the hospitality sector. More than 3,000 staff members from the Greene King pub chain received training on how to spot and respond to discriminatory conduct, illustrating how football’s values can be embedded in everyday social spaces.
The 2025/26 season also marked a historic moment for transparency in the professional game. For the first time, clubs were required under FA Rule N to publish workforce diversity data, shedding light on the composition of leadership roles and providing a benchmark for future improvement.
Kick It Out also played a pivotal role in shaping policy at the highest level. Working with over 20 partner organisations, the charity helped draft proposals for the Independent Football Regulator, aiming to embed stronger board‑level accountability for equality, diversity and inclusion.
These proposals set out clear representation targets for club boards and senior management, seeking to ensure that decision‑making bodies better reflect the communities they serve. Beyond structural reforms, the organisation continued its collaborative work on a range of pressing issues: tackling online abuse, confronting sexism and misogyny, addressing faith‑based discrimination, and fostering inclusion for under‑represented groups.
These joint efforts have produced resources, campaigns and training modules that are being rolled out across clubs, schools and digital platforms. Okafor reiterated that this is only the first year of a longer journey. "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 a dual signal: a warning that prejudice remains a serious problem in football, but also evidence that more people are willing to speak out and that the sport’s governance structures are becoming more receptive to change.
With continued partnership, transparent data collection and a focus on education, Kick It Out aims to transform football into a space where diversity is celebrated and discrimination is swiftly addressed. Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.