Reports of antisemitism in UK soccer rose by 43% in the 2025-26 season, a new report by the charity Kick It Out revealed.
Kick It Out received a total of 1,744 reports of discrimination over the 2025/26 season, continuing the upward trend seen over the last five years. More incidents have been reported at all levels of the game than in any other season.
There were a total of 93 reports of antisemitism in the 2025/26 season, up from 65 the previous year. While antisemitism is not the discrimination category with the highest number of reports, it had the third highest increase of all categories at 43% from the previous season. Most of the antisemitic reports related to social media (35), followed by reports about a professional game (31) and grassroots youth soccer (23).
The category with the highest increase from the 24/25 season was Islamophobia, which increased by 88% to a total of 60 reports.
The highest number of actual reports were categorized under 'racism,' 'sexism' and 'homophobia,' in that order.
It’s not only Kick It Out that has seen an increase in reports of discrimination; the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) has also recorded rises in the number of discriminatory incidents last season.
2025/26 is also the first season with over 1,000 separate incidents reported.
Links between outside events and reports of discrimination
Kick It Out also explored whether there is a link between outside events and reports of discriminatory events in soccer.
It plotted on a graph the key domestic stories throughout the season against the number of incidents.
The graph showed spikes in incident reports following the Manchester synagogue attack, the ban on Tel Aviv fans attending an Aston Villa game, and the beginning of the grooming gangs inquiry.
Kick It Out noted that many incidents reported over the last few seasons can be linked to domestic and world events and responses to them.
Examples include the Supreme Court ruling on gender leading to The Football Association’s ban on transgender women in the women’s game, leading to a spike in transphobic abuse. The 7th October attacks in 2023 also led to a sharp rise in Antisemitic and Islamophobic reports.
However, Kick It Out was careful to note that correlation does not imply causation, and that it’s almost impossible to directly link the reasons behind an incident back to a specific event or headline.
Nonetheless, the similarities between timings of these headlines, and the numbers of incidents reported add weight to the belief that “what happens in the world, gets played out on the pitch,” the charity said.
Kick It Out’s chief executive officer Samuel Okafor said the figures show that discrimination remains “deeply embedded” across the game at a time when there is also a rise in hate crime and divisive political rhetoric in Britain.
“But they also show that people are more willing to stand up to abuse when they see it, and it’s encouraging to see professional players set that example last season,” he said.
“While we recognize that there is a lot of good work ongoing in football to tackle discrimination, we will continue to work with soccer authorities, clubs, leagues, regulators and government to ensure we match the courage shown to report abuse with clear and consistent action so that soccer is welcoming to everyone.”