Kick It Out launched a major exercise yesterday to tackle abuse at grassroots level.

The campaign will see a three-month consultation exercise with players, coaches, parents and referees about their experiences of discrimination in grass-roots football, and about the reporting process for cases and how incidents are handled.

The exercise comes after Kick It Out’s announcement last month a 35 per cent increase in all reports of discrimination in professional football received at the midpoint point of the 2014-15 season.

The number of complaints raised at grassroots level has remained relatively low however.

Kick It Out director Roisin Wood said: “It is important that people are aware of discrimination and its effects across all levels of the game and this consultation will help us better deliver our messages of equality and inclusion.”