Kick It Out has today (3 March) revealed a 35% increase on incidents of
discrimination reported to the organisation at the midway point of the 2014/15
season.
The statistics, which have been collated from August 2014 until 28
December 2014, are compared to the same time period for the 2013/14 campaign.
The reports relate to professional and grassroots football, and social
media platforms, and also consist of incidents involving professional
participants.
The comparison shows reports submitted to Kick It Out have leapt from
136 to 184 with a 65% increase in incidents – from 43 to 71 – taking place
within the professional game.
This means that Kick It Out is just four incidents short of equalling
the amount it received for the entire 2013/14 season (a total of 75) from
across the professional game.
The statistics show that racism (64%) and faith-based abuse (17%) –
antisemitism making up all complaints – are the most common forms of
discrimination which have been reported to Kick It Out.
Significantly, there have been 13 reports of sexism compared to just two
incidents for the whole of last season. Reports relating to discrimination
based on sexual orientation have risen from five to 15.
The most-used reporting mechanism within the professional game is the
Kick It Out app. The app has been responsible for 27% of reports with the
website form (25%) the second most popular.
The level of grassroots reporting has matched the exact same amount as
the midway point of last season with 34 incidents – 47% of these have been
submitted to Kick It Out via email.
The statistics also show a 24% rise in football-related hate crime on
social media – a total of 73 compared to 59 – reported to Kick It Out.
This data has been compiled by Anna Jӧnsson, Kick It Out’s first
full-time Reporting Officer, who joined the organisation in October 2013. She
manages all complaints on behalf of Kick It Out.
Overall
Number of incidents – 184
Type of discrimination – Race (117), Faith (32 – all of which are antisemitism),
Sexual Orientation (15), Gender (13), Disability (7), Age (0), Other (0)
Professional game complaints
Type of discrimination – Race (72%), Sexual Orientation (13%), Faith
(8%), Gender (7%), Disability (0%), Age (0%), Other (0%)
Professional participant complaints
Type of discrimination – Sexual Orientation (33%), Faith (33%), Race
(17%), Gender (17%), Disability (0%), Age (0%)
Grassroots complaints
Type of discrimination – Race (64%), Gender (18%), Disability (9%),
Faith (6%), Sexual Orientation (3%), Age (0%)
Social media incidents
Type of discrimination – Race (59%), Faith (30%), Disability (5.5%),
Sexual Orientation (4%), Gender (1.5%), Age (0%)
Cases closed (from August 2014 until 28 December 2014)
Professional game
42 cases closed
10 cases proven (24%)
Professional participant
3 cases closed
2 cases proven (67%)
Grassroots
18 cases closed
6 cases proven (33%)
Social media
73 incidents reported
21 cases led to offender identified and/or action taken and/or account
deleted (29%)
