“Stop it Coming Home”: England’s Domestic Violence Reports Likely Escalated during World Cup Season

By Aimee Li ’28

The 2026 FIFA World Cup that took place in North America over the summer attracted global attention and spurred celebrations around the world. However, the popularity of the tournament across internet platforms and news channels resulted in a lack of focus on less light-hearted news—specifically, the resurgence of domestic violence reports in England during major sports seasons.

This trend was discovered back in 2014 in a research report published by Dr. Stuart Kirby, Professor Brian Francis, and Ms. Rosalie O’Flaherty of Lancaster University, UK. The study intended to draw a correlation between domestic violence statistics and the viewing of soccer games by analyzing five years of national data. By analyzing English police data on domestic violence reports during the most recent World Cup seasons before 2014, the researchers discovered that the risk of domestic violence increased by 26% when England won or tied in a match and by 38% when they lost. The National Center for Domestic Abuse later determined that incidents increased by 11% the following day, regardless of the score. The Lancaster researchers further took into account that victims were estimated to report only 24% of domestic violence incidents that took place. While this data has been circulating since 2014, England authorities continued to make efforts to bring attention to the weight of these statistics. As England’s policing lead for domestic abuse, Louisa Rolfe, stated, “[Soccer] has the incredible ability to unite people,” and, by urging victims to step forward, “we can…collectively put a stop to domestic abuse.”

Several campaigns have utilized the spirit of the fans to advocate for an end to domestic violence. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Solace Women’s Aid, a UK charity supporting victims of domestic abuse, twisted the iconic lyric “It’s coming home” to form the “Stop It Coming Home” campaign. The name stemmed from the widespread chant of the original lyric from the song “Three Lions” written back in 1996. The band Lightning Seeds and comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner had collaboratively written the song “Three Lions” for the Euro 96 games. “Three Lions”, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was written to encapsulate the mix of disappointment and excitement of being an England fan, and Baddiel later told the BBC in an interview that the song was “the best football anthem of all time.” In the song, the lyric “It’s coming home”, representing England’s hope of taking home the trophy, has grown more popular at major tournaments ever since. In turn, Solace, through associating their campaign with the popular chant, hoped to make their cause “impossible to ignore.” The organization further spread the campaign by tweeting both the match results and domestic violence statistics after each game.

Other national services, most notably England’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), sought to provide aid to victims as well. In late June, CPS published a press release regarding an expected national rise in domestic abuse as the season kicked off (although statistics regarding this past summer remain unavailable). Specifically, authorities recognized that soccer was not the sole cause of these incidents, as other factors such as stress and alcohol were speculated to amplify the incidents, as per data from the 2014 Lancaster study. CPS amplified this explanation in a press release from earlier this summer that claimed: “[soccer] does not cause domestic abuse, but factors linked to major [soccer] events…can make situations worse.” Additionally, by recognizing the linking factors of abuse, charities and organizations such as Women’s Aid that focus on domestic violence have worked with clubs and broadcasters to reduce sexist microaggressions and raise awareness for domestic abuse within England’s soccer community.

“There is no excuse for domestic abuse,” said Kate Brown, CPS Domestic Abuse Lead. As another World Cup season passes, calls for action toward putting an end to domestic violence persist both in England and across the world. As more campaigns try to increase their global media presence, England’s authorities continue to reiterate the gravity of domestic violence and encourage victims to call out abusive behavior. These collective efforts work toward not only putting an end to domestic violence but also, as per CPS, “[making] [soccer] an environment everyone can enjoy safely and without fear.”