Football: ‘Kick It Out’ Discrimination Statistics for 2024/2025 Season

Discrimination in association football, whether at the grassroots, non-league, the professional game or online, continues to be on the rise as the following statistics for the last season 2024/25 published by the leading anti-discrimination in sport charitable organisation ‘Kick It Out’ show:

‘Kick It Out’ received 1,398 reports of discrimination in the 2024/25 season, marking a continued rise from last season (1,332) and the highest figure ever recorded by the charity. This represents more than double the number of reports received just four seasons ago.

The data, gathered from reports across the professional game, grassroots football, and online spaces, shows rising levels of abuse in several key areas, including sexism, transphobia, ableism, and faith-based abuse, alongside persistently high levels of racism, which remains the most reported form of discrimination.

Reports of sexism and misogyny rose by 67%, increasing from 115 to 192. Much of this was driven by a rise in online abuse, where sexist content rose by 72%. The charity also received 18 reports of sexist chanting, almost as many as the previous four seasons combined. The increase follows the launch of ‘Kick It Out’s Kick Sexism Out’ campaign and comes amid calls for greater consistency in how sexist abuse is monitored and recorded.

Online abuse remains a major concern, with 621 reports submitted this season, a 5% increase on last year. Racism continues to dominate in this space, accounting for 268 reports, while transphobic abuse doubled, underscoring the need for urgent action to protect marginalised communities. Faith-based abuse also rose sharply, including a five-fold increase in sectarian incidents. 

Ableist abuse increased by 45%, highlighting that disability discrimination remains a persistent but often overlooked issue in football.

At grassroots level, the charity received 325 reports, up from 303 last season. The biggest shift was seen in youth football, which now accounts for 57% of all grassroots reports. Reports involving girls’ football doubled, with abuse ranging from sexist slurs and exclusion to racist comments and the targeting of young female referees.

In the professional game, there were 452 reports, up slightly from 440 last season.

For further information, log onto the ‘Kick It Out’ website at ‘www.kickitout.org’