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“I have not yet commented on [the match of] Slavia in Glasgow. I wasn't there, I only saw it on TV. But today's UEFA verdict on Kudela is insane. Convicted without evidence... They really went crazy in the West,” said MEP Alexandr Vondra (Civic Democrats),
a former foreign minister.
“Kamara for the crime of assaulting
- ban for 3 matches, Roofe for a liquidation foul resulting in serious injury - 4 matches and Kudela for verbal expression without proving a racist subtext - 10 matches. What's for killing - 6 matches? WTF!,” wrote Mirek Topolanek, a controversial former Civic Democrat prime minister.
“An obvious disparity which does not make sense in a standard environment of freedom. But at the time of the onset of the new progressive totalitarianism, nothing surprising. The word is considered by the new totalitarianism to be a crime. Cardinal, hereditary and unforgivable,” commented populist Czech President Milos Zeman's spokesperson Jiri Ovcacek.
The Head of Zeman's Office, Vratislav Mynar, even decided to send an open letter to UEFA, condemning all imposed punishments, unless evidence is proven.
“I would like to note that racism is unproven and alleged. Even the UEFA inspector himself questioned Ondrej Kudela´s racist statement. Nevertheless, you have decided to place a completely unprecedented punishment for a player who did not harm anyone and then only verbally, according to his statement, offended his opponent. You condemn
a decent person without a single piece of evidence. You make it impossible for sportsmen to fulfill their dream in the European League,” he wrote.
“All this just to fulfill the perverted expectations of a small group of activists and a club unable to win on the field,
all the more so by shouting empty and hurtful phrases about racism,” he added. According to Mynar, UEFA's fight against racism has become the fight of the unsuccessful against the successful, the pinnacle of hypocrisy and positive discrimination.
Slavia players celebrating after defeating local rivals Sparta Praha.
“Your efforts can lead to the opposite, a situation where a person with a colour other than black will be discriminated against, oppressed and deprived of his rights. That is why I also consider it necessary to oppose this procedure,” Mynar stressed.
Slavia responded to UEFA's verdict
by saying that it respects its decision, admitting that Kudela should not have approached the opposition player, which immediately triggered hard criticism from Slavia's fans.
“I deeply regret that and apologise
to Glen Kamara for a situation that
has clearly caused distress to him and his teammates, as well as everyone associated with Slavia and Rangers. I am taking positive steps to prevent such a situation from happening in our club ever again,” said Slavia Chairman of the Board Jaroslav Tvrdik.
"He can't be serious. You threw Ondra overboard," wrote David Fajkus, a member of Slavia's Fanclub. "I understand,
you can't win against a crime-ridden organization. But most fans expect
a gesture of support," added another
fan Frantisek Koudelka on Twitter.
Tvrdik responded that Slavia's official apology to midfielder Kamara does not mean that the Prague club acknowledged Kudela's alleged racist behaviour.
“I am responsible for the club, whose 85% of the budget comes from UEFA and
the Premier League. We have submitted over 50 pages by the [lawyers], the verdict has been issued, it's over. The club has nowhere to appeal. We pay for Ondrej's legal team, no one threw him overboard and he does not think so. We have to go forward,” said Tvrdik.
The former Czech Radio correspondent in the UK and current sports commen- tator for SeznamZpravy, Jiri Hosek, explained that coverage of the accident was very different in the UK and at home in Czechia. “One big difference, which is hugely disappointing to me as far as the British media is concerned, was that the lack of respect shown by Glasgow Rang- ers players, the way they behaved on the pitch, was completely ignored, with the focus just being put on the alleged racist incident on the pitch.”
Hosek noted that while the ´Black Lives Matter´ movement resonated strongly in the UK, it touched Czechia only marginally. That's why the Czech media focused mainly on the toxic atmosphere of the match, he said.
Hosek stressed that Czech society and the Czech media insist on a presumption of innocence, while the approach in
the United Kingdom toward racism is that a claim of victim of racist abuse is generally taken as true and the alleged perpetrator has to prove his innocence. He also pointed out that the 10-match ban was the minimum for this kind
of offence and had been criticised as lenient in the UK.
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