Hate crimes rise by 47% at football matches in England & Wales

According to a newly published report, a whopping 47% rise has been noticed in terms of hate crimes at football games in England and Wales. The figure represents the data collected during the last season. As per the reports, such hate crimes happened across 193 matches.

During the football season of 2017-18, similar crimes happened at 131 games. Last season, 79% of the total hate crimes were related to racism. However, the same report claims that football-related arrests dropped considerably by 10% during the same period. The total arrests made last season were 1,381.

According to BBC, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Robert said, "Hate crime is on the rise, and this reflects some of the high profile incidents reported over the past season. We are committed to working with the leagues and clubs to tackle these issues but that will take a sustained focus on security from all concerned."

Among the Premier League players who were targeted for racism include notable names such as Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Manchester City's Raheem Sterling.

Pierre-Emerick's assault happened on a day when he scored for Arsenal in a match against Tottenham Hotspur FC, which the Gunners won 4-2. A Spurs supporter admitted later of throwing a banana skin aimed towards the winners. Although the culprit denied having any racial discrimination in mind, the court declared the case to be purely based on the goal scorer's skin pigment.

It was during Man City's 2-0 defeat to Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in December last year that Sterling was allegedly abused by some of the Blues' fans. Later, Chelsea banned 4 fans from further attending any of the club matches. After this incident, the City player used Instagram to express his disgust about the newspapers' role in fuelling race-associated hatred. He further said that the media portrays black footballers in a way that promotes racism.

Data from the Home Office exposes some intense numbers. During the last season, most arrests (80) happened at matches involving Stoke City FC, followed by Leeds United (49) and Aston Villa (42). However, as far as racism-related arrests are concerned, numbers dropped to 14 in 2018-19, compared to 15 in 2017-18.