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 correspondentPublished1 minute 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 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."Regulator proposals 'put diversity on subs' bench' - Kick It OutPublished10 MarchAbuse in English football a 'crisis' - Kick It OutPublished10 February 2025The statistics are not a surprise to Umar Ali, who plays for Route One Rovers - a semi-professional team in Bradford. During Ramadan last year, he was racially abused by a group of opposition spectators as he was waiting to come on as a substitute."It was our first game playing while we were fasting," he said. "So obviously we were hungry that day and I was a bit less patient."Then when I was getting ready to come on, one of the fans said I should shave my beard off and that I looked like a pae...