Slavia’s Prague’s Kudela Gets 10-Game Racism Ban

Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela has been banned for 10 matches after racially abusing Glen Kamara with the Rangers midfielder suspended for three games.

The Finn has been found guilty of assaulting Kudela in the tunnel after the sides’ stormy Europa League meeting at Ibrox in March, which Slavia won.

Rangers striker Kemar Roofe has also been banned for four games on the same charge after Ondrej Kolar suffered a fractured skull in a challenge, with the Ibrox club fined 9,000 euros for failing to control their players.

Roofe and defender Leon Balogun were sent off, and three other players were booked in the stormy last-16 second-leg encounter, which the Czech side won 2-0 to progress 3-1 on aggregate.

Police Scotland are also looking into separate allegations of racial abuse and a reported assault.

Centre-back Kudela rejected the “disgusting accusation” of racially abusing Kamara – while covering his mouth – amid a melee in the closing moments of the game, but did admit swearing at the Rangers player.

He was provisionally banned for one game pending an investigation by a Uefa ethics and disciplinary inspector.

Consequently, he missed Slavia’s 1-1 draw at Arsenal last week and will now also be ineligible for the next nine games played by either Slavia in Europe or the Czech Republic national team, potentially including the Euros.

The bans received by Kamara and Roofe apply only to Rangers’ matches in European competition, with the Ibrox club entering the Champions League at the third qualifying round in the first week of August.

Rangers, who also said several players were racially abused online after the Slavia game, met with Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday.

That followed the club’s announcement that their players and staff were boycotting social media for a week due to concerns about how platforms deal with racist abuse.

“It is vital that our players and staff are protected online,” read a club statement.

“We outlined our strong belief that social media companies should make it mandatory to provide identification before being able to obtain an account.”