Ondrej Kudela: Slavia Prague defender will not be prosecuted over allegations of racially abusing Glen Kamara | Football News
Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela will not be prosecuted after being accused of racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara during a Europa League tie at Ibrox last March.
The 34-year-old – who was handed a 10-game ban by European football’s governing body UEFA for using racist language – has always denied the claims.
As reported in the Daily Record, Kudela will not now be prosecuted, while there will be no criminal proceedings either against Kamara, who was reported over an allegation that he punched the Czech player in the Ibrox tunnel after the match.
Kamara’s team-mates were angered by the incident at the time during the last-16 tie
Kamara’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, told Sky Sports News: “My client Glen Kamara is pleased that following submissions being made to the Crown and careful consideration of the evidence, that he will face no criminal proceedings.
“UEFA had already imposed a ten-match ban on Mr Kudela on the basis of evidence presented and found him guilty of ‘racist behaviour’ towards Glen.
“It remains disappointing that Mr Kudela chose not to personally attend a Scottish Police station to answer an allegation of racist abuse, he could then have taken up the opportunity of defending himself in court.
“Which begs the question ‘why not?’
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett says UEFA’s decision to give Kudela a 10-match ban for racist behaviour towards Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara is insufficient and ‘a joke’
“The Crown advised my client that they believed there ‘was sufficient admissible evidence to warrant a prosecution’, but as Mr Kudela would have faced a summary court proceedings, extradition was not a viable option for the Scottish authorities.
“Glen is happy that the matter is at an end, racism should have no hiding place in football and he is deeply grateful to his team mates, club and fans from across the football world for all their support. Glen now just wants to get on with the game he loves.”
Rangers’ vice-captain Connor Goldson and Kamara confronted Kudela
Prosecutors have confirmed the case will only be reviewed if new evidence emerges. A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “The Procurator Fiscal received reports concerning a 25-year-old male and a 34 year-old-male and incidents said to have occurred on 18th March 2021 in Glasgow.
“After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the Procurator Fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.
“The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available.”
