Police, prosecutors and equality campaigners have been left in the dark about racist incidents at football matches because of a lack of data on conviction rates, HuffPost UK can reveal.
No information is held on how many incidents have actually have led to convictions, making it difficult to identify obstacles in bringing racist hooligans to justice – or sentences that are unduly lenient. That is despite a spike in reports to police of racist incidents at football matches, and dedicated policing units for the sport.
The organisations charged with curbing racism in the sport – the Crown Prosecution Service and the Ministry of Justice – told HuffPost UK they could not answer our requests for information as they did not hold the details we had requested.
“We are witnessing a worrying return of racism to grounds,” a spokesperson for Stand Up To Racism told HuffPost UK.
“Barely a weekend goes by without reports of racist incidents amongst fans or players. Given the racism coming from the top of society from the likes of Johnson and Trump, this is no surprise.
“Football is multi racial, multi-faith and racists will be the minority but far too often sanctions are slow and cumbersome.”
IIffy Onuora, equalities coach for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), said in December that a “strong message” had to be sent out that racism in football grounds could no longer be tolerated.
“We will be lobbying the government to increase punishments for those found guilty of racist offences at football,” he added. “That includes handing down custodial sentences. There needs to be a bigger deterrent. Enough is enough. These are hate crimes.”
Yet neither the CPS nor the MoJ could break down the number of convictions there had been for racist incidents at football matches.
MoJ data for public order offences at football matches lists “taking part in racist or indecent chanting” as one crime, with no specific details available for the former.
Nor is there any category that collates other manifestations of racist abuse at these matches – such as physical attacks, missile throwing or drawing racist graffiti.
In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, there was just one prosecution in the whole of the UK for someone “taking part in racist or indecent chanting”, which led to a conviction and fine. It is not known whether the case related to racist chanting or to indecent chanting.
Moreover, this data only covers what is deemed to be the most serious offence a person is charged with – so would not include cases in which a person charged with racist chanting at a football game also receives a longer sentence for another offence at the same time.
The United Kingdom Football Policing Unit (UKFPU), which works with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs Council Football Lead in reducing antisocial behaviour in the sport, also does not have any breakdown of convictions for racist incidents at football matches.
The latest Home Office figures show more than 150 football-related racist incidents were reported to police last season, a rise of more than 50% on the year before and more than double the number from three seasons ago.
The statistics reflect three years of increases in reported incidents across England and Wales, with a sharp rise from 98 to 152 between the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.
HuffPost UK has approached the Home Office for comment.
In December the government appeared to reject the PFA’s call for it to lead an inquiry into racism in football, with Downing Street saying there remained work to be done by the football authorities to stamp out racism. However, it did not rule out taking further steps “if required”.
The 2019-20 season has featured numerous instances of players reporting racist abuse from the crowd, with Manchester United players pointing out issues at the Manchester derby just last month.
Anti-racism charity Kick It Out declined to comment on what it described as a “complex and challenging” issue when approached by HuffPost UK.
A Football Association spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “While only participants fall under The FA’s jurisdiction, we investigate all reported forms of discriminatory abuse in English football, at every level of the game, and we work closely with the relevant authorities to ensure the matter is dealt with appropriately.
“We strongly condemn all forms of discrimination and encourage all fans and participants who believe that they have been the subject of, or witness to, discriminatory abuse to report it through the appropriate channels: The FA, the club, the police or via our partners at Kick It Out.”