Racism concern amongst majority of football fans.

62 percent of football fans in the UK say they are concerned about witnessing racist abuse at a game.

A survey conducted on racism in the sport by YouGov found that 32 percent of fans were fairly concerned with 30 percent very concerned.

Murray Carter, from Football Unites Racism Divides, a Sheffield based anti-racism charity said these numbers aren’t particularly surprising, “it’s blown up lately because of the amount of racist behaviour and it becomes a very highly charged debate. Black Lives Matter and the taking of a knee are constantly criticised by a minority of fans so that is why those figures are so high, we need more positive conversations.”

The charity works nationally and internationally to combat racism and increase understanding between different communities.

It started in 1995, when the English game became more commercialised, but as the game grew in that sense, it regressed off the pitch.

“Racism has always been around, but it happened certainly more so during that time, and it wasn’t just in and around the games either, it was in Highfield and Sharrow in your everyday life,” added Carter.

Fighting racist abuse however is something that evolves, “twenty years ago it was racist abuse shouted at players and it still happens now, but we do have a system of identifying and prosecuting these people. Our next challenge is to prevent online abuse where people hide behind fake names and pictures. Some initiatives have already begun like the social media blackout, but we need to keep pushing to prevent this sort of thing.”

This sentiment is backed up by the charity’s Founder and Chair, Howard Holmes, “based on our experience, we know that the issues related to racism are constantly changing and growing. I am sure in five years there may be another issue we are trying to tackle.”

The survey also found that less than half of fans knew how to report racism or any kind of abuse in a stadium.

If you attend a football match and need to report and racist abuse then you can use this link on Kick It Out.