Alan Rough has been speaking on the latest instalment of the PLZ Football Show, where he claimed Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara should have received a ‘stronger punishment’ following an interaction with Ondrej Kudela after the Slavia Prague man racially abused the 25-year-old at Ibrox.
The despicable incident occurred when Steven Gerrard’s side hosted the Czech Republic league leaders in the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie.
Kudela clearly uttered something in the ear of the Finland international during the game at Ibrox Stadium and has been found guilty of using racist language by UEFA and handed a 10-game ban, the minimum punishment for an offence of this nature.
However, Kamara has also been found guilty of assaulting Kudela in the tunnel after the final whistle and has been given a three-game ban, although Rough doesn’t think that either ban is long enough.
He said: “I’ve always said the two incidents are different. You know, that they should be dealt with in their own way. I personally don’t think it sends out the right message for both the fines.
“If 10 games is the minimum, I’d like to know what the maximum is. It should have been the maximum, you know, the maximum sends out to everybody, this is what you’re going get.
“So, I don’t get the 10 being the minimum. As far as Kamara is concerned, I don’t think three games sends the right message for assaulting somebody in the tunnel. So, in both instances, I think it should have been a stronger punishment.
“I’m not saying Kamara should have been 10 or anything like that, maybe six or something. But certainly, the other guy had to be the maximum. And if somebody could tell me what that maximum is in the rules, he should have got it.”
TIF Thoughts on Kamara’s ban…
It’s extremely hard to see Rough’s logic here, given the severity of the offence Kudela committed. Racism continues to plague football in the modern era, and until UEFA responds to such blatant acts of racist behaviour in an appropriate manner, they will continue to occur.
Although physically assaulting someone can never be condoned, it can be understood, and the authorities arguably should have taken a much more sympathetic approach to Kamara’s actions.
While Kudela may be banned for Slavia Prague’s next 10 European fixtures, the issue of racism continues to remain a firm part of football’s fabric, and unless people like Rough fully grasp the serious nature of occurrences like one involving Kamara, then it will remain incredibly hard for the sport to change.
In other news: ‘He worked really hard in pre-season’ – Pundit blown away by ‘brilliant’ Rangers player