The player at the centre of a police investigation over alleged racist abuse – Ondrej Kudela – has been at the centre of an international tug-of-war over reports that Slavia Prague have fears for his safety should he travel to the UK.
The Daily Record is reporting that there has been a change in attitude from the player’s club over the last 24 hours with the Czech Republic manager now claiming that Kudela could yet travel to Wales:
“The management of the Football Association of the Czech Republic and the management of Slavia Prague are currently still acting together, in accordance with the interests of player Ondrej Kudela.”
The “interests of player Ondrej Kudela” are fears that he will be arrested on suspicion of racist abuse and taken to Glasgow for questioning before a potential court hearing, those are the fears of Slavia Prague.
Glen Kamara’s lawyer has been outspoken since being appointed as the Rangers player’s representative and it could be that his claim that Kudela should be interviewed by Police Scotland as soon as he steps foot in the country that has triggered this latest drama:
“Glen welcomes the police investigation into the racist abuse he faced from Kudela. Police Scotland officers are now expected to question Kudela when he returns next month on the 8 April to England to play Arsenal.
“There can never be any justification for the deeply offensive, provocative and racist language that Kudela is accused of using. A Uefa investigation is now also under way, which Glen will fully cooperate with.
“If Kudela is found guilty, then Uefa must use Article 14 of the disciplinary regulations, to impose robust ‘zero tolerance’ sanctions.”
It is a situation that really needs to be resolved, sooner rather than later, and the quicker that Kudela faces up to his responsibilities and is interviewed by the police to corroborate any evidence that has already been provided the better, no doubt the first question will be why has his story has changed twice in the fallout from the incident – almost like he is making it up as he goes along.