Racism and other forms of discrimination in football has been on the increase for the fifth consecutive season, according to Kick It Out.
Kick it out is an organisation that campaigns for equity and fairness in sports. It released a statistics that suggests that there has been a significant rise as far as discrimination is concerned in football for a fifth consecutive season.
They stated that 469 reports of discrimination charges, as against 402 during the last season, was recorded across the Premier league, English Football League, Women’s Super League and also from the grassroots level.
Racial discrimination accounted for 48% with 17% associated with faith.
Kick It Out stated that a total of 56% of the discrimination occurred in the EPL, the EFL recorded 34%, while 9% was recorded at non-league levels with 1% at international matches. However, the report did not cover Continental matches.
Manchester United recorded racism against his newly signed striker, Romelu Lukaku. The Club had to issue a statement warning fans to desist from racial chants towards the player. It threatened to use cameras to fish out perpetrators.
“Kick It Out’s reporting statistics for the 2016-17 season clearly indicate discrimination is still prevalent within the beautiful game.
“As we head towards the 25th anniversary of the organisation in August 2018, it is a timely reminder that there is still significant work to be done to ensure all participants can feel safe and included in the sport.
“Whilst the statistics show a large proportion of reporting taking place within the professional game, Kick It Out is aware of the vast scale of under-reporting within the grassroots game. This is one of a number of challenges the football authorities must tackle going forward.
“Kick It Out actively encourages all those involved across the game to report any discrimination they witness or suffer.” Kick It Out’s CEO, Roisin Wood, concluded.
Earlier in June, FIFA introduced another law aimed at curbing racism in the beautiful game of football. This came as Ghanaian Muntari was racially abused in a match. He was also shown a yellow card when he tried to complain to the referee.
The new FIFA law gave Referees the power to stop, suspend and also abandon matches if the racist actions were not stopped. FIFA had also made videos featuring the world’s most renowned players speaking against racism.
