Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out says tougher sanctions are needed to punish discrimination in football, as the number of annual incidents hits a record high.

Kick It Out - then called Let's Kick Racism Out of Football - was founded in 1993 The 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 said 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 reported 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." The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers - a semi-professional team in Bradford.