Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he was made aware that Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts wrote in January 2021 to the (a) Premier League and (b) English Football League requesting that they work together to tackle racist abuse against players; and will he make a statement.

The department is in regular contact with the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs’ Council Football Lead, and the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) across a range of issues including tackling discrimination.

I understand the Premier League and English Football League also meet frequently with the UKFPU, including recently with social media companies to focus on tackling online abuse, and hope they will continue to do so as we work together to rid this abhorrent behaviour from the game and society.