Rangers player Glen Kamara urges UEFA to have 'zero tolerance' for racism following incident in Slavia game
The Finn was left distraught following an encounter late in the Gers' 2-0 defeat when the Czech defender covered his mouth before directing a comment to him in close quarters. Credit: Hugh de Paor (ETPhotos)
Rangers mifielder Glen Kamara has urged UEFA to take a zero-tolerance approach to racism after he was abused by Slavia Praha’s Ondrej Kudela on Thursday night.
The Finn was left distraught following an encounter late in the Gers' 2-0 defeat when the Czech defender covered his mouth before directing a comment to him in close quarters.
Kamara, who is Black, says Kudela used a racial slur against him while Kudel insists that he merely called him ‘a fucking guy.’
Kudela was substituted moments after the flare-up, but Slavia have issued a denial that the defender said anything untoward.
“Since summer many of us have taken the knee in solidarity with those who have lost their lives to racial violence,” said Kamara, in a statement issued via his laywer, Aamer Anwar.
“If Uefa genuinely wants to ‘show racism the red card’, then it’s time to stop the tokenism and take a zero-tolerance approach.
“As a player I do not expect myself, nor any other to have to tolerate racial hatred on or off the pitch in 2021.
“The vile racist abuse by Ondrej Kedel took place on the international stage and any failure to act by Uefa will be viewed as a green light for racism.”
Kamara went on to describe the incident in detail [content warning: offensive language]
“Kedel was arguing with a Rangers player and after I tried to intervene, he told me to shut up and then said ‘one second my friend’.
“He then came over to me covering his mouth, leaning into my ear, he uttered the words – ‘You’re a fucking monkey, you know you are.’
“I was shocked and horrified to hear such racist abuse from a professional football player. Kedel’s claim he simply swore at me and said ‘You’re a fucking guy’ is a complete and utter lie, which does not stand up to any form of scrutiny.
“Kedel’s actions were deliberate and premeditated, but he was loud enough for my teammate Bongani Zungu to hear what was said.”
A statement issued by Rangers read: “Uefa will be well aware the football world is watching. We expect a robust and unequivocal response in relation to this incident.
“It cannot be merely ‘swept under the carpet’ – we are not prepared for Glen Kamara to be yet another statistic. Enough is enough.”
The Czech side claim they have made a complaint to the Scottish police about an alleged assault by Kamara on Kundela in the tunnel after the game.
The club said: “[Kudela] categorically denies and refutes any allegations of racism. We are shocked that his reputation and the club’s reputation are being smeared without a single piece of evidence.
“The only ‘alleged’ evidence is the player covering his mouth – which Ondrej does on a regular basis when he talks to his teammates during our games.
“After the arrival of Slavia representatives, Ondrej was physically abused by the player of Rangers FC who then fled into the locker rooms followed by the manager Steven Gerrard without a single word of apology.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Enough is enough. <a href="https://t.co/uyJLLhIUul">pic.twitter.com/uyJLLhIUul</a></p>— Glen Kamara (@GlenKamara4) <a href="https://twitter.com/GlenKamara4/status/1373028025634291713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
