Repeat of 2021 survey shows ethnic minority fans see progress in actions to tackle racism over the last four years – although more remains to be done
The England women’s football team have come in for criticism for no longer taking the knee to protest racism ahead of matches, beginning with Tuesday’s Euro 2025 semi-final against Italy.
In doing so, the Lionesses said they would stop the anti-racism gesture as it was "clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism".
However, the results of a new YouGov survey show that football fans in England are as likely to say they support footballers taking the knee (55%) as they were four years ago in 2021 (54%).
Ethnic minority football fans across the Britain more widely are likewise about as likely to support the gesture now (79%) as they were in 2021 (78%).
Support among the wider population is similarly unchanged, with the 48% of all people in England and the 78% of ethnic minority Britons backing footballers taking the gesture largely the same as it was four years ago.
The England team’s motivations for not taking the knee suggest they think stronger action is needed.
Arguably the wider public hold the same view. Half (52%) of people in England, and 55% of the nation’s football fans, think that taking is knee is not important in tackling racism – suggesting they may think it does little to change people’s minds. Again, these figures remain about the same as they did in 2021.
By contrast, most ethnic minority football fans in Britain do think taking the knee is important, at 54%.
What do football fans think of racism in the sport?
Most football fans in England believe that racism in the sport exists (86%), including 49% who also say it is a serious problem – ethnic minority fans in Britain hold these views at similar rates.
When it comes to how seriously footballing bodies are taking the issue, there has been a notable increase in the number of ethnic minority fans holding positive opinions.
While ethnic minority football fans in Britain are split on 38% to 42% on whether or not football associations are doing enough to tackle racism in the sport, this represents a significant improvement from 2021, when only 15% of ethnic minority fans said they thought enough was being done.
It is a similar story when it comes to the actions of clubs: while ethnic minority fans are currently split 40-39% on whether clubs are doing enough, the number saying they are is up from 27% in 2021.
When it comes to players, ethnic minority football fans in Britain are much more likely to say footballers are doing enough (49%) than to disagree (27%), although this does not represent a statistically different change from our previous poll.
By contrast, among all football fans in England, figures have scarcely changed since 2021 – even if their outlook is more positive in general, with notably more people thinking each of football associations, clubs and players are doing enough than thinking their actions are inadequate.
When it comes to the punishments handed out by football authorities to other football bodies for the racist behaviour of their fans or players, there has been a significant increase in the number of both England football fans and ethnic minority fans in Britain who see such punishments as “about right” rather than “not harsh enough”. Nevertheless, this does still leave between 34-42% who think that punishments meted out to national football associations, as well as national and domestic clubs, are insufficient.
