Football
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Kick It Out reports increase in racist incidents in football

Kick It Out chair Lord Herman Ouseley believes football must do more to tackle the scourge of prejudice after a new report showed incidents of reported discrimination in the sport are still on the rise.

Ouseley said it is incumbent upon top officials and authorities to accept its role in confronting an issue afflicting society in general -- and singled out the grass-roots game as an area of special concern.

Incidents of discrimination in football are on the increase, according to a new report by the organisation.

Kick It Out's annual reporting statistics, released on Tuesday, show a 2.5 percent increase in incidents reported to the group during the 2015-16 season compared to the previous equivalent period.

The most significant rise in reporting concerned social media, with 194 reported incidents, an increase of 18 percent compared to 2014-15.

Ouseley said in a statement: "Football has undoubtedly come a long way and made progress in tackling discrimination and making the game open to all. However, there's vulnerability at this moment in time.

"As cutbacks have taken place across society, football has stepped up and led the way in terms of its community programmes, focusing on diversity, inclusion and equality using the power of football.

"It's become a leader for this area but young people are vulnerable to the increased levels of prejudice and hate which has been evidenced by increases in reported hate crimes and incidents.

"Education is one of the essential elements of tackling ignorance, bigotry and intolerance.

"Bringing people of all backgrounds together to play and participate in football activities provides the ideal environment to stimulate learning with and from each other about each other.

"This contributes to the achievement of diversity, inclusion and equality, by confronting personal prejudices which contribute to hateful activity.

"Kick It Out is intensifying its education work within football, including the professional sector, with a particular emphasis on football at grassroots."

As well as social media, there was also a significant increase in incidents involving players, managers and staff at a professional level, with 13 being reported.

However, there was a 16 percent decrease in reports of incidents involving supporters, and also a smaller decrease in incidents at a grassroots level.

The results show reports of discrimination in the game continue to increase year-on-year since Kick It Out started collating the statistics in 2012-13.

And they come on the day Kick It Out launched its 'Call Full Time On Hate' initiative, which calls for a unified effort from football bodies to eradicate prejudice and hate from the game.

The rise in social media incidents will be a particular concern given the ongoing case of Burnley striker Andre Gray, who has asked for a personal hearing over his misconduct charge for homophobic posts on Twitter in 2012.

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