Survey reports reveal a shocking truth about increased abuse and discrimination in modern-day football

Discrimination and abuse is seeing no end in football. (Image credits - Flickr)

Chants, posters, and campaigns for "there is no place in football for racism or discrimination of any form" have been taking place for over a decade now, with FIFA, UEFA, clubs, and national team federations actively taking part in them.

However, despite stricter laws and rules being implemented regarding discrimination in football, which even include serious punishments such as jail and hefty fines, a recently conducted survey has shown a shocking and disgraceful rise in these discriminatory acts.

The Premier League opener on Friday also saw a similar shameful incident take place at Anfield, where a disabled Liverpool fan was caught shouting racial slurs at Bournemouth star Antonie Semenyo, which even halted the game as referee Anthony Taylor reported the incident to the on-ground police, who arrested and threw that particular fan out of the stadium.

English football fans have undoubtedly topped the charts for abuse and discrimination, with the survey reporting a record 1,398 cases of discriminatory acts during matches across all tiers in the 2024/25 season, which even topped the previous season's record of 1,332 reported cases, as per the new data provided by The Guardian.

On top of that, several reports are claiming that the football community across the world has seen an abrupt rise in online sexism, which has increased by 72%, with most cases being reported of men falling into the age category of 15–25.

The scenes are even worse inside the stadiums during football matches, as 18 reports of sexist chanting were claimed within the stadiums, which almost equals the total number of sexism-related abusive cases reported from the previous four seasons combined.

Is there any hope for a change in modern-day football?

While the situation clearly appears to be worse than ever, the increase in the reporting and calling-out of such horrible acts in itself shows that there is a clear change in the perspective of the footballing community towards discrimination and abuse.

The Chief Executive of Kick It Out, Samuel Okafor, recently stated, “What we’re seeing now is that fans aren’t just reporting abuse; they’re demanding action. There’s been a clear shift this season in how people are calling out sexist behaviour, both online and in stadiums, and asking football to treat it as seriously as any other form of hate." (sic)

Like we have been witnessing recently, the match officials and the ground staff have also become more active in reporting such incidents to the on-ground police, who have also been instructed to take strict actions against such offenders.

Even clubs have begun to take a firm stand against racism and discriminatory acts of any form. Several clubs across Europe, namely Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Newport County, Leeds United, Udinese, Rangers, Valencia, Brentford and Cagliari, handed lifetime bans to fans who were found guilty of conducting these disgraceful acts.

Therefore, despite the increase in the number of cases recorded and reported, the entire footballing community stands united against racism, sexism, homophobia, and discrimination in any other form and will continue to work towards its end.