Club pledges support for Kick It Out’s #TakeAStand campaign

We will be highlighting our support for Kick It Out’s new campaign, Take A Stand, around this Sunday’s home match against West Bromwich Albion.

The campaign encourages Clubs, supporters and governing bodies to take action in the fight against discrimination in football.

Following the disturbing rise in incidents of online racial abuse towards players in recent weeks, the Club should like to make clear it has a zero-tolerance policy on all forms of discrimination and abuse. We reserve the right to issue banning orders to fans found guilty of online abuse, just as we would if an offence had been committed in the stadium.

Last year, the Premier League launched a dedicated reporting system for players, managers, coaches and their family members who receive serious discriminatory abuse via direct messages on social media platforms. The Club continues to work closely with the Premier League where each case is reviewed, reported to the relevant social media company, investigated and legal action taken where appropriate.

Through Take A Stand, Kick It Out – football’s equality and inclusion organisation – is aiming to create a culture where individuals take personal responsibility for being part of positive change.

Research by Kick It Out shows most football fans will have witnessed some form of discrimination in football – at matches or on social media – and more needs to be done to move from awareness to action. Take A Stand is both a challenge and an invitation for individuals and organisations to publicly commit to their own pledge. It is also a movement that everyone can play a part in.

In support of Take A Stand, we shall be sharing video content and assets to promote the campaign across our website, social media channels, in-stadia signage and matchday programme around the West Brom match.

Our players will also be wearing Kick It Out t-shirts during their pre-match warm-up, while continuing to take a knee ahead of kick-off to send the message that discrimination has no place within our game.

As part of our further commitment, Tottenham Hotspur is pledging to continue:

• Communicating to fans how they can report discrimination or abuse when they witness it on social media or on matchdays.
• Ensuring matchday staff are appropriately trained and have the processes in place to deal with discrimination or abuse effectively.
• Delivering awareness training for staff so that they can identify and tackle discrimination in the workplace and beyond.
• Using its platform to celebrate diversity within the Club, its fanbase and wider community.

Club staff receive diversity awareness training and have access to a range of resources available to them on the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.

Tottenham Hotspur is a founding signatory of the Football Leadership Diversity Code, launched to drive diversity and inclusion across English football. We are committed to tackling inequality across the game to ensure that a modern and diverse society is reflected across the Club’s senior leadership teams and operations.

Through the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, the Club runs a number of projects aimed at promoting inclusion and equality for all, including sport and employability programmes for people with a range of disabilities, girls’ football programmes and educational workshops for local school children.

The Club works closely with the Proud Lilywhites, its official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, to combat issues relating to homophobia within the game and create a safe and inclusive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender fans.

Tottenham Hotspur also works closely with SpursAbility, which represents and promotes the views of disabled fans. Our stadium is fully compliant with the Accessible Stadia Guide and exceeds standards in many areas. For example, in addition to dedicated accessible entrances, the stadium has accessible seating and wheelchair spaces in all stands.

For those who would like to make a Take A Stand pledge, either individually or as an organisation, or want more information on how to do so, please contact Kick It Out at info@kickitout.org. For more information about Take A Stand, visit kickitout.org/take-a-stand

You can also make a pledge by joining the conversation on social media – just use #TakeAStand and tag Kick It Out in your posts. You can find them on social media as below:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kickitoutofficial
• Twitter: @kickitout
• Instagram: @kickitout