PRAGUE (AP) — Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara was repeatedly booed by the thousands of young Sparta Prague supporters who were in attendance for Thursday’s Europa League game between the clubs.
Normal fans were banned at Sparta’s stadium for the Czech club’s 1-0 victory because of previous racist behavior, but UEFA allowed the host to have the support of some 10,000 schoolchildren aged 6-14.
The booing of Kamara came after Ondrej Kudela from Sparta’s archrival, Slavia Prague, received a 10-match ban from UEFA for racially abusing the Finnish player in a knockout game in the Europa League last season.
Kamara was sent off Thursday after picking up his second yellow in the second half.
The ban from all UEFA competitions prevented the 34-year-old Kudela, who was a starter for the Czech Republic, from playing at this year’s European Championship.
Sparta was ordered by UEFA to play a game without fans due to racist abuse of a player during a Champions League qualifier at home to Monaco on Aug 3.
A group of fans directed monkey chants at Monaco midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni after he scored the opening goal in the first half, and again when the game was over.
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