If UEFA really think this ban is racists, there is clearly a lack Kudela suspension falls well short of action needed to protect players like Kamara
YESTERDAY was another depressing day for football and the sport’s fight against racism. Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela was handed a 10-game ban after racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during a Europa League last-16 match in early March.
Almost a month has passed since the fixture and UEFA finally made the decision that Kudela’s disgusting remark was worthy of a few matches seated on the naughty step in the stands.
Kudela will miss the remainder of this year’s tournament and also the European Championships this summer, where he would have been in action for the Czech Republic.
Let’s be honest, the 34-yearold has probably been saved from a hostile reception at Hampden Park, but all in all his sentence just makes UEFA look stupid. If football’s governing body really think this punishment is going to eradicate racist incidents from the game, there is clearly a total lack of understanding about how deep rooted this issue is.
It is not like we’ve not been here before. Year after year countless cases of racism have infiltrated the game, no matter the level, yet UEFA fail to learn that their minimal charges have no lasting effect.
This season alone we have already had a UEFAaccredited fourth official accused of racism, countless high-profile players being targeted via social media and just on Tuesday Inverness suggested that Nikolay
Todorov was the latest victim of a sickening slur.
Players have “taken the knee” all season and sported “RESPECT” on their jerseys, but when it really matters, the punishment for racist abuse simply is not working.
The rational penalty for discriminatory insults must change and the next step must be expulsion from tournaments. After elimination, clubs should then be forced to undergo an educational programme from the very top to the grassroots.
Kudela’s Slavia are on the brink of landing a semi-final spot in the Europa League and with a last-four place they have every chance of winning the tournament. Imagine if a team with a player banned for racist abuse in their ranks was to win one of the most soughtafter trophies in European football? It is totally at odds with rational thinking.
Fair play to the Czech outfit in terms of their footballing ability over the two legs against Rangers. But their conduct since then has been nothing short of disgraceful and somehow they have managed to push UEFA into punishing the racially abused Kamara.
The Finnish midfielder was handed a three-match ban for “assaulting” Kudela and Rangers rightfully made a statement late last night where they detailed their concerns over the punishment
This again shows a lack of understanding within UEFA over the impact of racial abuse. Did they just expect Kamara to shake hands with Kudela following the full-time whistle and say, “well played mate?”
That is maybe taking it a bit far but surely Kamara’s sentence should have been looked upon with some leniency given what he had experienced? It is this common sense that appears to be lacking within football investigations.
Last night, Slavia made a drastic U-turn as chief executive Jaroslav Tvrdik sent an apology to Kamara on behalf of the club.
“Ondrej was suspended for 10 UEFA games and as a club we respect the decision,” he stated. “In any case, Ondrej Kudela should not have approached the opposition player.
“I deeply regret that and apologise to Glen Kamara for a situation that has clearly caused distress to him and his team-mates, as well as everyone associated with Slavia and Rangers.”
The sorry speech will never be enough I am afraid, but he did go on to state that he is taking
“positive steps to prevent such a situation from happening in our club ever again”.
Let’s hope this is so, but the fact we are still sitting here discussing racism in the so called “beautiful game” in the year 2021 is a sorry state of affairs.
Footballing great Clarence Seedorf was vocal yesterday saying that players should be immediately sanctioned if they cover their mouth while talking to an opponent or the referee.
“From a player’s perspective, I have seen stuff with players speaking and covering their mouth during matches,” he said. “There were some racist