Football has been 'used to fuel racism, far right activity and misogyny', MPs heard today.
Campaigner Shaista Aziz told the Women and Equalities committee there were “two sides” to football.
One being that football has “been used to fuel bringing people together” including the “incredible work” clubs have done to support families during the cost of living crisis.
But, she said, “it's sadly also been used to fuel racism, to fuel far right activity, and to fuel misogyny as well”.
Speaking at a session on sexism in football, Ms Aziz, co-director of the Three Hijabis, which campaigns to eliminate racism from football, said she would “not feel comfortable taking my family, even now, to watch an England men's match”.
“I would be feeling very, very concerned and I'd be in a heightened state of alert about their safety and well-being.
“And that isn't based on figments of my imagination. It is based on well-documented evidence of what sometimes does happen in football grounds,” she said.
Jacqui Oatley MBE, a leading football commentator, recounted stories about women’s experiences in football stadiums.
She told MPs about “aggressive” and “unpleasant” atmospheres for women at games.
One woman had told Ms Oatley: “I can't even get my friends sometimes to come to home games with me because of the way they're made to feel, you know, filing into small areas and sometimes men making them feel very uncomfortable physically, making comments, etc.”
Ms Oatley also raised “the chanting which goes unreported”, adding: “And I don't think it's an easy situation to fix if you've got chanting about lady parts with a view to making that club and their fans feel emboldened against the opposition supporters.
“It's not going to make women who are standing alongside them or sitting alongside them feel great about life.
“There's a lot more that can be done on that front, I believe, by clubs themselves in the way that they embrace their female fans and communicate with female fans.”
It comes a day after a Football Association report found ex-Crawley Town manager John Yems used "offensive, racist and Islamophobic" language.
He was found to have described a Muslim player as a terrorist and racial slurs to describe black players.
The FA disciplinary commission "accepted that Mr Yems is not a conscious racist".
"Nevertheless, Mr Yems' 'banter' undoubtedly came across to the victims and others as offensive, racist and Islamophobic," the report said.
Since then, the FA has taken the unprecedented step of considering its legal options after “fundamentally” disagreeing with the findings of the independent panel that ruled former Crawley he was not “consciously racist.”
Caroline Nokes, chair of the women’s committee, asked Ms Aziz how she felt about the comment that “unconscious racism is only banter”.
Ms Aziz told MPs she was “absolutely disgusted and horrified by the fact that the custodians of our football national team and the Lionesses team, the FA, sees fit to put out statements that make absolutely no sense and are deeply offensive”.
“We need to understand that very, very sadly, racism is fully mainstream across the world, including in our country, as is misogyny and for the FA to sort of say this unconscious racism, you know, unconscious bias, is absolutely farcical,” she added.
Meanwhile police are investigating racist threats made to a Jewish comedian during the Arsenal vs Spurs clash on Sunday, Chortle reported.
In 2021, the racist treatment of Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho from their own England fans after they missed penalties at the Euros shamed this country.
Players continue to take the knee before football games as a statement that racism has no place in football, nor in society.
The Kick it Out campaign continues to fight against discrimination of all kinds, including sexism, racism and homophobia, in football.
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