Slavia Prague defender, Ondrej Kudela has been hit with an initial one-match ban following allegations that he racially abused Rangers’ Glen Kamara.
Europe’s footba governing body on Tuesday opened proceedings against Kudela following the incident which reportedly happened during the UEFA Europa League second leg round of 16 tie between Slavia and Rangers.
UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body have now confirmed that it had suspended Kudela for violating Article 15(1)(a)(iv) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, relating to “insulting players or others present at the match”. A statement said this decision was made “without prejudice to any ruling that the CEDB may subsequently make on the alleged violation of Article 14(1)”.
Article 14(1) refers to a person who “insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation”, the violation of which would incur “a suspension lasting at least ten matches or a specified period of time, or any other appropriate sanction”.
A decision on the second potential violation will be made “in due course”, the statement added. UEFA’s investigation relates to an incident in Slavia’s Europa League win over Rangers in which Kamara reported receiving “vile” abuse from Kudela.
Television pictures showed Kudela, who covered his mouth with his hand, lean in to Kamara and make a comment which sparked fury from the Rangers midfielder and his team-mate Bongani Zungu.
Kamara demanded action from UEFA, saying: “It’s time to stop the tokenism and take a zero-tolerance approach.”
Slavia strenuously denied the allegations following the match in March and issued a statement defending Kudela. The Czech club will face Arsenal in the Europa League quarter-finals this week but would have been without Kudela regardless of his ban.
The centre-back is still struggling following a blow to his nose sustained in a clash with Gareth Bale while on international duty last week.
Story by Sammy Wejinya