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FA welcomes 70% rise in reported discrimination

Chelsea fans hold up a banner during their game against Burnley a week after the infamous Paris Metro incident © PA Photos

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A sharp increase in the number of reported incidents of discrimination in football has been welcomed by the Football Association and the sport's leading anti-discrimination group.

Reports of racist abuse, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia and other forms of prejudice to Kick It Out have risen by more than a third since the start of the season, while English football's governing body has seen an increase of 70%.

Mark Ives, the FA's head of judicial services, estimates that the total number of cases reported across both bodies may swell to nearly 1,000 by the end of the season, but sees the rise as a sign of progression.

He told the Guardian: "It may seem strange to say that it is good to see cases increase from 477 last year at grassroots level to probably 800 this year, but we believe anecdotally the problem itself is not increasing, and that this represents people feeling more confident about reporting abuse."

Racist abuse forms up to 70% of incidents reported to the FA, while 118 complaints to Kick It Out were about antisemitism, the overwhelming majority taken from social media. The organisation also received 15 complaints involving sexual orientation, seven relating to disability and 13 involving sexism, a 650% increase on last year.

Roisin Wood, director of Kick It Out, echoed Ives' positive comments but was more cautious in her praise of the figures.

Writing in the Guardian, she said: "The bad days of the 70s and 80s have been largely left behind us ... yet the reality is the level of complaints submitted to us this season barely scratch the surface of a widespread problem.

"The footage we have seen taken on public transport in Paris and north London in the past couple of weeks confirms that. But what would have happened had it not been caught on camera? It most likely would have gone unchallenged, and that makes you think about how many of these incidents occur each and every week that go unreported."

Wood continued to lay out the challenge of dealing with hate crime posts on social media, describing is as a "massive task".

"The modern revolution of social media, while being positive in many different ways, has also dramatically increased the ways in which racism and discrimination can be expressed.

"Major strides have been made over the past two decades, but there is still a long way to go before we see a serious zero-tolerance stance adopted towards discrimination, and a game more reflective of modern-day society."

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