Kick It Out app
The Kick It Out reporting app is a vital tool for the organisation in tackling discrimination in the 21st century.
Discrimination can only be challenged and eliminated from football if it is first reported, so please download the app from either Google Play or the App Store, and help Kick It Out continue its fight to rid the game of ageism, homophobia, disability-related abuse, racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination.
History
The free app, of which the first version was released in July 2013, allows users to confidentially report incidents they may see, hear or witness at a match. The app was developed by makepositive, a cloud technology firm specialising in Salesforce, and covers over 95% of smartphones.
The second version of the app has focused on gathering more conclusive evidence for investigations with new functionality allowing media to be attached to reports. A very significant new addition to the app is the option to report incidents of football-related hate crime on social media platforms.
This came after Kick It Out revealed 50% of complaints it received for the 2013/14 season related to social media abuse, and research commissioned by the organisation in April 2015 also estimated an abusive post was directed at a Premier League player or club once every 2.6 minutes.
Functions
The app provides users with the ability to attach video, photo and audio evidence to complaints to help support investigations into discriminatory abuse and behaviour across football.
The app also allows complainants to shield their identifying information from professional clubs across the English Football League, Premier League, Women’s Super League and the football authorities by clicking the ‘remain anonymous’ button contained within the reporting form.
Steps have been taken to ensure that reporting grassroots and non-league incidents is simple and user-friendly. Selecting grassroots and non-league comes at the very top of the reporting form and there are only a few entry fields, making complaints clearer and more concise.
Success
The first release of the app built upon well-established methods of reporting, including via email and freephone, and was a huge success with 38% of all complaints from the professional game in 2013/14 coming via the app as part of an overall 269% increase in reports made to Kick It Out.
Kick It Out’s reporting statistics for the 2014/15 season showed a 36% increase of reports registered in relation to the professional game came via the app – making it the most-used mechanism for registering complaints at that level.
Usage of the app also increased by 59% between the 2013/14 season (34 complaints) and the 2014/15 campaign (54 complaints) with the reporting tool becoming one of the most prominent and well-known forms of registering a complaint.
In November 2016, Kick It Out app was presented with a Football Business Award for the Best/Most Innovative Use of Technology (non-club specific).