Slavia Prague’s victory against Rangers in the Europa League hidden behind allegation of racism
Slavia Prague felt a bitter-sweet victory yesterday after they won 2:0 (3:1) at Ibrox Stadium against Rangers F.C. The win has moved them to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and one step closer to the trophy — however, the happiness of the victory was quickly out-shunned by claims of alleged racism on the pitch.
Rangers’ playstyle was aggressive to say the least. Two red cards (61’, 73’), the first after Kemar Roofe’s karate-like high kick coming straight against the face of Slavia’s goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar (described as ‘collision with the goalkeeper’ on the official Rangers Twitter account) and the following, in a form of a second yellow card, for Leon Balogun. There was a wide debate on social media about the referee’s judgement — some claimed that Orel Grinfeeld was too lenient and should have given more red cards to the Scots and others defended him, stating that this is their style of football. It does not matter if you are on one side or the other, Slavia goalkeeper’s frontal sinus fracture speaks for itself.
The harshest of all tackles
But as Steven Gerrard, the manager of Rangers said at the start of his press conference, “around football sometimes things happen that are more important than the game.” He meant racist remarks that Ondrej Kudela, Slavia’s defender, allegedly said to Glen Kamara, Rangers’ midfielder. The situation was as follows: Kudela, in the last minutes of the match, whispered something into Kamara’s ear. The Rangers’ midfielder started chasing the Slavia player which almost escalated into a brawl. Kamara told Gerrard that the thing said was of racist nature, but the Czech team denies that.
However, the situation did not stop there. A source at the scene told Czech news website Seznam Zpravy that Kudela got attacked in the tunnel which players use to get out of the pitch. Slavia Prague also say that in their post-match press release: “Ondrej Kudela was assaulted by Kamara in a cowardly manner as he was hit with fists in the head in the presence of Steven Gerrard.” They also state that the whole incident is thoroughly described in the match protocol and that a UEFA representative was on the site, shocked by it. The Czech team has filed a criminal complaint for physical assault on Ondrej Kudela. This, alongside a situation when Slavia players were not allowed to go to their changing room for half an hour after the match ended, makes the whole incident even bigger than it was at the start.
Words against words
One thing is for sure, Kudela whispering something (racist or not) to a player of the opposing team was a mistake. Now it lives in the world of words against words and claims against claims. Gerrard, and the whole of Rangers, stand behind Kamara and say that he was told something racist. Slavia, with their coach Jindrich Trpisovsky, stand behind Kudela and “deny the disgusting accusations of racist behaviour.” Kudela states that “in emotions after two red cards and a number of brutal actions of the opponent” the thing he said was “You’re f***ing guy.” Kamara did not say what the racist remark was — but The Scottish Sun wrote that another player of the Scottish team, Bongani Zungu, turned to the referee after hearing that comment and shouted: “He said ‘f***ing monkey’.”
I fully agree with Jaromir Bosak, a Czech sports columnist and the co-commentator of the match on Czech TV, who said that if Kudela said what he is alleged to say, he is “in trouble. Deep trouble.” Racism is something that cannot be taken lightly, and it is on UEFA to look into it and find an adequate solution to this very escalated situation. Additionally, players of the Scottish club were bombarded by hateful and racist comments on their social media accounts. Kemar Roofe, player mainly known from the match as the one who injured Kolar, got called the ’n’ word multiple times, alongside other derogatory comments. I can understand that people may be angry or frustrated, but racism should not be a permitted ‘tool’ in the vocabulary of a sports fan. And banning a particular racist account, with them having a way of making another, does not solve it.
Extra-time
Everyone is now waiting for UEFA’s decision. As Steven Gerrard said at the press conference: “this will be taken out of my hands now and it will be dealt with by UEFA.” All that is known now is that they are looking into it — and we will surely know their verdict soon. Hopefully for Slavia, this issue will be solved as soon as possible, so they have enough time to fully commit to training against their new opponent in the Europa League — Arsenal F.C.
