Slavia Prague STAND while Arsenal take the knee before Europa League clash

The Slavia Prague team opted against taking the knee before kick-off in their Europa League quarter-final clash with Arsenal on Thursday.

The Czech side are at the centre of an ongoing investigation into centre back Ondrej Kudela, who is alleged to have racially abused Rangers’ Glen Kamara in their last-16 clash last month. 

UEFA handed Kudela a one-match ‘provisional suspension’ for misconduct while they conclude their investigation, ruling him out of the Emirates clash – Arsenal’s players did decide to take the knee, which has been a constant since football returned post-lockdown back in June.  

Slavia Prague and Arsenal were split on taking the knee on Thursday in the Europa League 

Slavia Prague players remained standing while Arsenal's players continued to take the knee

Slavia Prague players remained standing while Arsenal’s players continued to take the knee 

The Czech side remained standing while their defender, Ondrej Kudela, is under investigation for allegedly racially abusing Glen Kamara last month

The Czech side remained standing while their defender, Ondrej Kudela, is under investigation for allegedly racially abusing Glen Kamara last month  

The Czech player is alleged to have called Kamara a ‘f****** monkey’ as players pushed and shoved amid the fiery last-16 clash, sparking a furious reaction from Steven Gerrard and his players.  

The report has been concluded and is being discussed by UEFA’s disciplinary committee. 

A result is expecting to be published next week, and could be on the day of the return leg of the quarter-final tie against Arsenal in Prague. 

The provisional ban caused little effect on Slavia’s preparations, as the club had already announced the defender would miss the clash through illness and injury.  

On Wednesday, Kamara described facing a barrage of racist abuse on social media since his clash with Kudela. 

Kamara was allegedly racially abused by the Czech defender in the clash with Rangers at Ibrox

Kamara was allegedly racially abused by the Czech defender in the clash with Rangers at Ibrox

Kamara told ITV News: ‘I haven’t paid much attention to what he (Kudela) has done after this whole incident, but I’ve seen their fans, how they’ve reacted, and I’ll get (racist) abuse probably every day on my Instagram.

‘Every day, easily – I’m not the one that get really affected by it, so I’m all right. But how the team has reacted and taken it, it’s sad to be honest.

‘I feel like I need to tell my story – the online messages I’ve been getting, the racial abuse online – Instagram, Twitter, everywhere else. I feel like as the victim, it needs to be said.’

There were calls to kick Slavia Prague out of the Europa League after a number of the Czech club’s fans held up a vile banner calling Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara a ‘n*****’ in the aftermath of the incident. 

Slavia Prague ultras held up a vile banner calling Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara a 'n*****'

Slavia Prague ultras held up a vile banner calling Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara a ‘n*****’

Eleven of the Czech club’s supporters posed with a long banner that reads ‘Kamara – just a n*****’ while holding flares to light it up.

Another image posted on the same Instagram account shows the group holding another banner that read: ‘Slavia Praha against all #TeamKudela.’ 

The banner, which was posted to social media on Friday night, was condemned by the Slavia Prague chairman, Jaroslav Tvrdik, who labelled it as ‘disgusting’ and ‘pathetic’. 

Kamara added yesterday that the alleged abuse he received made him feel like a ‘little boy’, and added that he would not hesitate to walk off the pitch if it happened again.

The midfielder admitted if he could go back to the time of the game he would walk off the pitch

The midfielder admitted if he could go back to the time of the game he would walk off the pitch

‘I had so many different emotions and felt like a victim – I just felt like a little boy, it was a very weird feeling,’ said Kamara.

‘If I could go back to the time of the game, I’d walk off the pitch, 100 per cent. My manager (Steven Gerrard) was actually trying to get me off the pitch, but I was on my own… I couldn’t hear anybody.

‘It’s an everyday life thing. I don’t know if in our lifetime we will see it change, but if I can make a change in some way, I’ll do it.’ 

Martin Keown called for social media boycotts to help combat the issue of racism in football

Martin Keown called for social media boycotts to help combat the issue of racism in football 

With Thierry Henry stepping off social media and the conversation rumbling on over how to combat racism in football, Martin Keown spoke on the topic pre-match.  

‘We need to create change and for governments to be involved,’ the former Gunners defender said on BT Sport punditry duty. 

‘I think we need to do it on a bigger scale and maybe the clubs need to come together to boycott Twitter in a mass campaign. Individuals doing it is not having enough impact.’