(Reuters) – An appeal filed by Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela against his 10-match ban from UEFA for racist behaviour has been dismissed, Europe’s soccer governing body said on Wednesday.
Kudela was banned for 10 UEFA club and national team competition games after Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara complained of being racially abused by the Czech defender in the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in March.
Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy had left one spot open for Kudela when he announced his squad for next month’s European Championship but the Slavia Prague player is now ineligible.
Kudela had said in a statement that he swore at Kamara after being fouled, but denied using racist language.
Police Scotland were expected to question Kudela when he came to London to play Arsenal in the quarter-finals, but his club said he was not fit to travel before UEFA handed him a provisional one-match suspension hours later.
Kamara’s lawyer Aamer Anwar welcomed the decision to uphold the ban but criticised UEFA for taking a soft stance.
“The ban smacks of tokenism and in reality UEFA has failed to take any real action against racism. Meanwhile my client is yet to receive a full apology,” he said on Twitter.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
