FA: Reporting Discrimination

To ensure our National Game is For All, we all have a responsibility to step up and blow the whistle on discrimination.

Discrimination of any kind has no place in football. That’s the same whether on the pitch or on the sidelines, at the training ground or in the stands. If you tell us about something, we will act promptly and respond appropriately.

Depending on the setting where discrimination occurs, there are different ways to report it.

At the foot of this page, you’ll see links to these different settings:

• Wembley Stadium connected by EE and St. George's Park
• The Professional Game
• The Grassroots Game
• Social Media

But there’s one common denominator. If you’ve seen or heard abuse, we want to hear about it. That way we can tackle it swiftly to not only change our game for the better, but also lead the pace of change outside football.  We understand that may well lead to an increase in the number of cases we investigate, but it is diligence in reporting that helps us to take steps forward.

As a general guide, if you’ve been the victim of or witnessed an incident of discrimination in the grassroots game, disability game, women's pyramid and The National League System, you can report it to:

• The FA at Football.ForAll@TheFA.com

• Kick It Out through their online reporting form or via their reporting app available on both iOS and Android. Alternatively, email Kick It Out at report@kickitout.org

But please refer to specific ways of reporting on the linked pages below.

You can read about our wider anti-discrimination strategy – A Game For ALL – here, or download it from ‘Useful resources’ at the foot of this page. Also downloadable are documents forming our charging policy and sanctioning framework around discrimination.

TYPES OF DISCRIMINATION

Discriminatory abuse can be a negative reference to any one or more of the following ‘protected characteristics’, which forms part of The FA E3.2 ruling: 

• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Race
• Ethnic origin
• Colour 
• Nationality
• Religion and belief
• Sex (gender)
• Sexual orientation

We may also take action under Rule E4 if you are the subject of an act of victimisation and/or discrimination as defined in the Equality Act 2010.

Click HERE to visit the relevant section of the FA website.

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