Europa League: Czech Foreign Minister demands apology from Scottish FA for comments about schoolchildren

The Czech foreign minister said Monday he was seeking an apology from the Scottish FA over statements made after a crowd of schoolchildren repeatedly jeered Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara in the Glasgow side’s Europa League game at Sparta Prague. The children booed Rangers midfielder Kamara until he was sent off following a second booking in the 75th minute, apparently in retaliation after he was allegedly racially abused by a Slavia Prague player last season. Finnish international Kamara was racially abused by Slavia defender Ondrej Kudela during a Europa League match last March. Kudela received a 10-match ban from international competitions from UEFA and missed Euro 2020, while Kamara, who allegedly punched Kudela after the game, was handed a three-game suspension. Rangers, who lost 1-0 at Sparta, said after the game they had contacted UEFA over the booing by children allowed to watch the game even as Sparta’s stadium was closed to regular fans over previous racism charges. Marvin Barley, a Scottish FA adviser for equality and diversity, then tweeted that he was “not shocked in the slightest” by the booing from the children as they were “behaving in a way they see adults do/encourage”. “What chance do they (the children) have when placed in a bowl with rotten fruit,” Barley said. The tweet angered Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek, who summoned British ambassador to Prague Nick Archer on Monday and asked him to broker an apology. “I understand that sports matches bring different emotions… but there are certain limits and they must not turn into xenophobic insults aimed at under-age children,” Kulhanek said in a statement. “I have therefore asked (the FA) to apologise or to clearly distance itself clearly from the person who publicly likened Czech children to rotten fruit.”