A report from Kick It Out, the
anti-discrimination charity, found that reports of racism in
English football rose by 43% last season, from 192 instances to
274. Meanwhile, reports of faith-based discrimination rose by 75%
from 36 instances to 63. It is the seventh consecutive year that
reported incidents of discrimination in football have
increased.
This begs the question, what are the footballing authorities,
clubs, players and fans doing to combat discrimination in
football?
Footballing authorities
The FA has introduced various new rules ahead of the start of
the 2019/20 season. Perhaps most notably, the FA has increased the minimum ban for racist abuse.
Since 2013, players guilty of racism have been banned for five
matches under FA Rule E3(3). This has been increased to a minimum
of six matches and now also covers any discrimination aimed at a
person's gender, sexuality, religious beliefs or
disability.
