Czech defender Ondrej Kudela has finally broken a two-year silence on his infamous clash with Rangers star Glen Kamara and claimed his eventual punishment was 'ridiculous’.
Kudela, 36, is now playing in Indonesia after the aftermath of the 2021 Europa League last-16 clash at Ibrox when the then-Slavia Prague player was eventually banned for racist abuse of Kamara which caused the Czech international to miss Euro 2020. He finally dropped his long-running appeal last year against his ten-match ban imposed on him by UEFA and apologised for approaching Kamara, but refused to give interviews.
He also discovered he would not face criminal charges in Scotland relating to the incident. Slavia Prague president Jaroslav Tvrdik revealed the case cost his club upwards of £500,000 in lawyers fees before he eventually dropped the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland and was quietly transferred to Persija Jakarta. However, in a Czech TV interview, Kudela has finally given his side of events and again refused to confirm he made racist remarks or apologise for the incident.
He said: "I got a punishment I didn't expect to get. Compared to the punishments they got, it was ridiculous. I don't know if I would have done anything any other way. Their player passed by me and it didn't feel like I was doing something terrible, but it turned out that way. I missed a lot of games, nice games, including the Euros.
"It changed me mentally. There was a lot of pressure, as soon as you opened any website it was jumping all over the place and everyone was asking questions about it. I was counting on it and preparing my loved ones for it because as soon as they turned on the TV, it was the main topic everywhere. For a while, I guess I divided the Czech Republic as well, because some were for it, some were against it.
"I had to prepare my mind that I wasn't allowed to react to certain things. I didn't even open the articles, I didn't give any interviews to anyone. It seems it would have been better to foul someone than to say something. It's true that football life is not very long and maybe if it wasn't for that excess, I would still be at Slavia Prague. I don't know.
"I honestly don't remember much about the game. All I know was that we blew Rangers away. We played beyond our expectations and there was a really bad foul on Ondrej Kolar that had consequences for him."
Asked if he would have done anything differently he replied: "I just don't know, it's hard to say... It's hit me a few times and I've given it thought, but things happen in life the way they're supposed to and there's no point in thinking about it. There were consequences, of course, I lost my Euro place.
"But who's to say I would have played in it? Plus, it was played in Scotland so there would have been a lot of pros and cons to weigh up. The boys made a big success at it. I watched it of course and it would have been great to experience it.
"Look, the pressure this generated for me and my family was enormous. Of course, my parents read it, and it was clogging up their heads unnecessarily. Then it got to the political part. I told my family and loved ones how it was and not to read it anymore, it was useless. I don't talk to anyone, I don't give interviews and it's pointless to comment. But it was unpleasant for them."
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