Kick It Out wants tougher sanctions as discrimination hits new high

Kick It Out wants tougher sanctions as discrimination hits new highImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Kick It Out – then called Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football – was founded in 1993ByJane DougallBBC Sport correspondentPublished28 minutes agoThe chief executive of anti-discrimination body Kick It Out says tougher sanctions are needed to punish discrimination in football, as the number of annual incidents hit a record high.Kick It Out recorded 1,255 incidents of discrimination in the 2025-26 season across all levels of English football – up from 960 in the previous campaign.Samuel Okafor stated racism was “deeply ingrained” in the game, but it was a “reflection of wider society”.His comments came as Kick It Out revealed it had also received 1,744 reports of discrimination for 2025-26, which was a 25% increase on 2024-25.Racism was the most revealed with 792 cases – rising 19% – while homophobia rose by 46% to 203, sexism went up 12% and ableism was up by 20%. Antisemitism climbed 43% to 93 reports and there were 60 incidents of Islamophobia, which was an 88% increase.Okafor added: “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.”Regulator proposals ‘put diversity on subs’ bench’ – Kick It Out