A 60-year-old man picked up a child and told a Muslim player: “I bet your wife’s the same age as this child.” That was just one of 1,255 discriminatory incidents recorded across English football last season – the highest ever.
Kick It Out, the anti-discrimination charity, said the 2025-26 total rose by 31% from 960 the previous campaign, while reports of abuse hit 1,744 – a 25% increase. Racism remained the most common, with 792 cases (up 19%), followed by homophobia (203, up 46%), sexism (216, up 12%), antisemitism (93, up 43%), ableism (89, up 20%) and Islamophobia (60, up 88%).
“Racism, homophobia and anti-immigrant chanting surged as football discrimination hit a record 1,255 incidents in 2025-26.”
Samuel Okafor, the charity’s chief executive, said racism was “deeply ingrained” in the game but added it was a “reflection of wider society”. He demanded tougher sanctions: “Tougher sanctions are needed, and I believe tougher sanctions will come, hopefully in the next few weeks, where people will face the consequences of their actions.”
The figures also showed a sharp rise in anti-immigrant chanting. Last season 39 reports were made – more than the previous two seasons combined – with phrases such as “stop the boats” and “send them back” heard at all levels of the game. Grassroots abuse rose for the fifth consecutive year, up 33% to a record 248 reports, while the 98 reports of abuse against match officials matched the total of the past three seasons combined.
Umar Ali, a player for semi-professional Route One Rovers in Bradford, was racially abused by spectators during Ramadan last year as he waited to come on as a substitute. One fan told him to shave his beard and called him a paedophile. The assistant referee heard the comments and told the referee, who took no action. The police were contacted but Umar has not been informed of an outcome. His manager, Mohammed Patel, said the officials fell short and should have removed those fans.
Kick It Out also noted an encouraging trend: more people are reporting abuse. Okafor praised supporters and players for speaking out, pointing to a 60-year-old man who received a suspended sentence for sending offensive messages to England defender Jess Carter and to Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo, who drew attention to racist abuse he received. The data suggests that while discrimination remains pervasive, the willingness to challenge it is growing.
Yet for Umar, the question after that game still haunts him: “Why is it still happening?”