Glen Kamara: Politicians wade into row after black footballer booed by Czech schoolchildren

The Czech foreign minister has said he will summon the British ambassador next week, as he waded into a row over alleged racist abuse directed at Glen Kamara.

Rangers player Kamara was booed every time he touched the ball in his side's game against Sparta Prague on Friday - with only schoolchildren and a few accompanied adults watching the match.

The Europa league fixture was originally supposed to be played without spectators following a separate racist incident last season.

Jakub Kulhanek appeared to disagree with accounts that Kamara was jeered by Czech schoolchildren.

He condemned "disgusting insults of Czech children in the media," writing on Twitter that the row was tarnishing the relationship between Britain and his country.

The foreign minister summoned Nick Archer, who was appointed as ambassador to the Czech Republic in January 2018, to a meeting to resolve the issue on Monday.

In the game that saw Sparta Prague record a 1-0 win, boos were said to have rung out around the stadium whenever Ranger's Kamara touched the ball.

In a lengthy statement, Sparta Prague subsequently asked Rangers to help stop what they called “xenophobic attacks” on the children who booed Kamara.

“It is absolutely unbelievable that after a match we have to watch innocent children being attacked and face unfounded accusations of racism," it read.

"Insulting children on the internet and in the media is unacceptable, desperate and ridiculous. “Stop attacking our children! Our club will proudly defend our children – our future and our pride."

The treatment of the Finland international follows the 10-match ban Ondrej Kudela - who plays for Sparta’s city rivals Slavia - received after Uefa found him guilty of racially abusing Kamara.Kamara received a three-game suspension himself for an alleged assault on the Czech player in the Ibrox tunnel.

ITV News Scotland Correspondent Peter Smith, who interviewed the Rangers player after he was racially abused six months ago, reacted on Twitter:

Kamara was dismissed in the 74th minute, to huge cheers from the crowd, after receiving his second yellow card, for what looked a harsh decision after an aerial challenge.

Manager Steven Gerrard was not surprised to hear claims that Kamara had been booed by the schoolchildren, although admitted he had not heard it himself.

When asked about Kamara being jeered, Gerrard told a press conference: “During the game I haven’t been aware. I have obviously been focused on the game and the tactical changes that I was trying to think about to try and get us back in the game as we were trailing.

“If they are facts and that is the truth, then I am extremely disappointed, but not surprised.

“We need the facts, we need confirmation if that’s the truth before I comment. If that was the case and they were targeting Glen, it’s extremely disappointing because the reason there’s a lot of kids in the stadium in the first place is because of previous similar incidents.”

When asked if Uefa should look at the situation, Gerrard said: “There needs to be more done. Not just myself, everyone across the world is asking for more and bigger and better and more extreme punishments in terms of racism. It needs to be eradicated.

“But until the powers that be do more and treat it more seriously, until that happens, we’re going to be dealing with these questions for a longer time.”

Kamara’s lawyer, Aamer Anwar, criticised the Czech club, saying in a statement: “I had hoped when I heard of the stadium closure of Sparta Prague that both Glen and other black players wouldn’t have to put up with any abuse or racism and could just get on with playing football.

“But this evening should be an embarrassment for the Czech side that, despite their fans being banned, it still made little difference that the stadium was filled with 10,000 schoolchildren.

“A huge proportion of those children booed Glen’s every touch of the ball along with every other black player for Rangers. Tonight shows yet again that Prague has a serious problem with racism and as usual Uefa is nowhere to be seen.

“Glen and the Rangers players have shown total class, but no player should have to face this at their work and on the European stage.”