UEFA drop Sparta Prague v Rangers 'racism' case after investigation

UEFA has confirmed it will not take disciplinary action against Sparta Prague over the behaviour of fans during their match against Rangers.

The governing body had opened an investigation after Rangers player Glen Kamara was repeatedly booed by the crowd at the Letna Stadium. An investigator who was appointed to look into alleged racist behaviour said he found insufficient evidence to continue.

Adult Sparta fans were banned following racist abuse of Monaco’s Aurelius Tchouameni in August, but around 10,000 schoolchildren were permitted to attend the 1-0 win over Rangers along with some accompanying adults.

UEFA had begun a probe into “potential discrimatory incidents” during the match and Rangers had contacted them directly to complain about the treatment of Kamara, who was racially abused by Ondrej Kudela, a player for Sparta’s rivals Slavia, last year.

Children were photographed at the match holding a poster showing support for Kudela, who was banned for 10 games for his racist language and missed playing for his country at Euro 2020.

A statement released by UEFA stated that that investigators had failed to find enough evidence to proceed with a disciplinary case.

It read: “In accordance withArticle 31(4) of the UEFA Dicsciplinary Regulations, a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector was appointed to conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding potential discriminatory incidents which allegedly occurred during the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League group stage match between AC Sparta Praha and Rangers FC played on 30 September 2021.

The investigation has now concluded that there was insufficient evidence of racism or discriminatory conduct at the match to warrant the opening of disciplinary proceedings against AC Sparta Praha.”