Czech football league fines Olomouc $5,050 for their fans' racist abuse of Plzen player Jean-David Beauguel

Prague: The Czech football league on Thursday fined a club 120,000 Czech crowns ($5,050) after its fans racially abused an opposing player during a game. The incident occurred Sunday during the game between Olomouc and Plzen when several fans directed racist insults at Plzen striker Jean-David Beauguel of France, who is black. [caption id=“attachment_8500071” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  In this file picture from 2019, Plzen player Jean-David Beauguel, center, jumps for the ball with Dinamo Zagreb’s Amer Gojak, right, during a Europa League match. AP[/caption] Plzen won the game 1-0. “The racist expressions by fans cannot be tolerated at the stadiums and such behavior is absolutely unacceptable,” said Richard Bacek, the head of league’s disciplinary committee. The league said Olomouc would face stricter punishment if a similar incident happens again, but said the club did well in escorting the fans from the stadium and banning them from attending games in the future. Olomouc also has been cooperating with police in their investigation of the incident, the committee said. There was only a small crowd at the match because of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The disciplinary committee also opened an investigation into alleged racist abuse of Beauguel and his teammate, midfielder Joel Kayamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo, by Sparta Prague fans during Wednesday’s cup game in Prague.