Rangers: Ondrej Kudela suspended as Uefa examines racism allegation
- Published
A comment from Ondrej Kudela sparked an onfield melee late in the game at Ibrox
The one-match ban issued to Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela "does little to instil confidence" in Uefa's approach to eradicating racism, says Rangers player Glen Kamara's lawyer.
Kudela, 34, denies Kamara's claim he racially abused him during Slavia's 2-0 Europa League win at Ibrox on 18 March.
The Czech has been given a provisional suspension for insulting an opponent while Uefa investigate the allegation.
If found guilty of racism, he could face a 10-match ban.
Uefa says it is also investigating Kamara's behaviour. Slavia claim Kudela was assaulted in the tunnel after the match in Glasgow.
Kamara's lawyer Aamer Anwar released a statement on the Finnish midfielder's behalf, saying Kudela's suspension "smacks of 'tokenism' and gives little confidence to black players who face such vile abuse".
It added: "Uefa have carried out an initial investigation which makes damning reading about Kudela's conduct. This initial one-match ban does little to instil confidence in Uefa being serious about stamping out racism in football and they must take robust action going forward.
"The defence put forward by Slavia Prague can only be described as incredible or fantasy."
Police Scotland are also looking into separate allegations of racial abuse and a reported assault.
Kudela will miss Thursday's quarter-final first-leg meeting with Arsenal. However, he was expected to be absent for the game in London anyway, owing to an injury sustained against Wales on duty with the Czech Republic.
A statement from Uefa concludes that more information "will be made available once the CEDB [Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body] has taken a decision in due course".
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