The Premier League has announced a three-year update on its No Room For Racism Action Plan.
It shows progress being made to increase diversity across the game and reinforces the league’s commitment to tackling discrimination and supporting those who are subjected to racist abuse.
This update comes ahead of this weekend’s dedicated No Room For Racism fixture round. During this period, the league and clubs will send a clear message that discrimination will not be tolerated in football or wider society, as well as demonstrating how diversity across all areas of the game makes it stronger.
The Action Plan was launched in 2021, outlining a series of commitments aimed at creating greater access to opportunities and career progression for Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups in football, along with actions to eradicate racial prejudice.
The three-year update highlights the progress being made and work carried out year-round in line with the key pillars of the Action Plan. This includes ongoing action against racism, as well as improving pathways for players, coaches and others working in football from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
No Room For Racism Action Plan three-year update
Progress continues to be made against the six pillars of the Action Plan, including:
2,500+ cases of online abuse targeted at players and others within the game have been investigated by the Premier League
88 per cent of participants from the league’s inclusive coaching programmes are in full-time employment with clubs
19.3 per cent of the Premier League’s workforce from ethnically diverse backgrounds (up from 12 per cent in 2021), as well as two board members (40 per cent of the League’s board)
1,344 boys and girls were involved in South Asian Action Plan qualifiers run by six Premier League clubs
19,000+ primary schools have access to free No Room For Racism education resources
26 clubs are involved in the Premier League Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Standard, with 17 at the advanced level
The ongoing fight against discriminatory abuse, whether it occurs within stadiums or online, remains a priority. The league commits significant resources to take action and support players and others connected to the game who face such abuse.
The league’s specialist investigative team continues to support players, their families and others working within football who are subjected to racism. A reporting system has been made available to clubs to host on their websites and fans can also report any racist abuse they see directed at players or others within the game at premierleague.com/reportracism.
A combination of platform filtering, monitoring activities and real-world sanctions has helped drive down the number of reports received from players. In recent years, there has been a reduction in reports from 50-100 direct messages being reported per month to less than 70 throughout the current season.
Over the last two seasons, a matchday observer programme has been developed to ensure that fan-related behaviour within stadiums, including discriminatory abuse, is monitored closely at every Premier League fixture.
The Premier League and clubs are also committed to working with the authorities and tough sanctions are in place for anybody found guilty. Punishments include automatic stadium bans and legal prosecution. This can affect education and employment opportunities and could lead to custodial sentences.