Glasgow [Scotland], March 19 (ANI): Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has said that Glen Kamara told him that he was racially abused during the Europa League clash against Slavia Prague on Friday.
Rangers suffered a 2-0 defeat against Slavia Prague in the Europa League Round of 16 second-leg match. In the first-leg match, both teams had played out a 1-1 draw, meaning Slavia Prague progress in the competition with an aggregate score of 3-1.
During Friday’s match, a scuffle broke out between sides in the final five minutes after Ondrej Kudela appeared to whisper something in Kamara’s ear, Goal.com reported.
“I feel angry. It’s difficult to describe how I feel now because I know Glen and I trust him 100 per cent. It’s extremely disappointing. Glen Kamara to me is one of my own. I 100 per cent believe what he is saying in terms of the accusation,” Goal.com quoted Gerrard as saying.
“Other players around him heard it so I will stand toe to toe with Glen Kamara and I’ll deal with this however Glen wants to deal with it. I am proud of all my players showing solidarity and from the top of this club to the bottom we stand with the players,” he added.
The manager added that it is now over to the UEFA and hoping that it does not “get brushed under the carpet”.
“This situation is over to UEFA now. I just hope it doesn’t get brushed under the carpet. All I can confirm is that my player tells me he was racially abused. I tried to call Glen over during the game, he didn’t come over. I was going to ask him did he want to leave the pitch and I would have backed him whatever his decision was but the players stayed on the pitch, that was their decision and the game came to a conclusion,” Gerrard said.
Slavia claimed a place in the Europa League last eight for the second time in three years thanks to a win in Glasgow. Peter Olayinka and Nicolae Stanciu scored one goal each in the match to help their team win the match. (ANI)