Kick It Out, an anti-discrimination charity, has always been committed to tackling discrimination and promoting equality in football. During the 2024/25 season, they documented an incredible 1,398 incidents of discrimination. This figure is an all-time high for the group, beating last year’s tally of 1,332 reports. The spike brings the sport’s persistent issue with racism into sharp focus. With it is an increasing public and academic concern over the frightening escalation of misogynistic behavior.
The most recent figures show a 67 percent increase in offense complaints that are flagged as misogynistic. Samuel Okafor, chief executive of Kick It Out, said this distressing trend has made it clear that now we need to get on, act fast with sincere boldness. He further stressed that the rise in mistreatment at the youth level is an important alarm clock. This concern requires urgent action from both the sport and the community that stands behind it.
Okafor remarked, “These figures show that discrimination remains deeply embedded across the game, but the rise in abuse in youth football should be a wake-up call.”
What we saw in the recently completed 2024/25 season represents a stunning turnaround. Women and men are working hard to challenge sexism and all other forms of hate in the sport. Fans are increasingly vocal about their experiences, with many now demanding concrete actions against abusive behavior. Okafor noticed that advocates are getting into the habit of logging incidents. Chief among their concerns, though, they are demanding that football authorities start taking these issues seriously.
“What we’re seeing now is that fans aren’t just reporting abuse, they’re demanding action,” Okafor explained. And make no mistake, there has been a visible difference this season in the way fans and commentators are calling out sexist behaviour—online and in stadiums—and demanding football treat it with the same seriousness as any other hate.
This unprecedented level of publicly reported cases has given rise to questions about the prevailing culture in football. Discrimination is still an all too visible scourge on our society, and Kick It Out will continue to work to combat it through education and advocacy. Okafor stressed that “no one should be facing hostility simply for taking part” in the sport.
Reported abuse has more than doubled from last season to this one. This trend is an indication of a bigger societal movement and a testament to fans and players both being more cognizant of the need to address discrimination head on. More people than ever are coming forward to tell their stories. That shows that the fight against discrimination in football is alive and well, and with an increasingly palpable urgency.
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