Last week, Glen Kamara revisited the ugly situation on the Ibrox pitch last season when he was racially abused by Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela.
In a feature for Sky Sports with Marvin Bartley, the talented midfielder gave a calm, but profound assessment of the situation including what he would do differently if the same thing was to happen in future.
It came as the Czech defender dropped an appeal against the 10-match ban issued against him, whilst he stopped short of a full admission.
💙Powerful. Moving. Emotional.
One year to the day since that incident with Ondrej Kudela, Rangers' Glen Kamara opens up about living with the consequences of that night and why he would walk off the pitch if it happened again👇 pic.twitter.com/urN7wmRqj6
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 18, 2022
Unfortunately, Kamara still receives racist abuse online following on from the Kudela incident as stated in the interview, in which he revealed exactly what was said to him during the round of 16 game last season.
The man signed from Dundee said the following when asked about what he would do if it happened again:
“I kind of wish I did, knowing it would have put the competition in a place where it’s like what do we do here?”
“Do we kick them out or do we give Rangers a bye or something and it would have put them in a situation that they had probably never been in. Not many players have actually walked off but I kind of wish I did.” (So if it happened again in the future you would walk off?) Yes.”
Impact
Kamara is a quiet, reserved type of guy which is reflected in his style on the pitch. From his instant reaction after the incident, it was clear that something very bad had happened due to the response from the Finland international – it is just not normally in his nature. Crucially, the almost identical feeling from Bongani Zungu (as pointed out by Kamara) corroborated the accusation and ultimately, the truth.
It is clear that this incident had an effect on Glen Kamara and unfortunately it will follow him around but it should be used as another example of what can happen and why it is important to stand up and speak out when these matters arise, but the football authorities still have work to do.
The full interview gives great insight from the man and player, as well as a good contribution from Livingston’s Marvin Bartley. Go check it out.