EUROPA League
‘UEFA RULING ON THE RACIST SLUR ON KAMARA IS A SAD EXAMPLE’ SAYS TUNDE ADELAKUN
Europe’s football governing body UEFA handed punishment to players involved in an on-field fracas during the Europa League game between Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers and Slavia Prague last month.
On March 18 in Glasgow, Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela had a confrontation which degenerated into a row on the pitch. The Rangers player involved, Glen Kamara was obviously and clearly reacting to something that was said to him and he was not happy. A few of his teammates rallied round and the Prague players also came round. It was an ugly sight.
Later on, it emerged that Kamara, a black Finnish player, claimed to have been racially abused verbally by the 34-year-old Czech player Kudela and it did not go down well with him.
A lot has been said about this, culminating in UEFA charging and handing a 10-match ban to Kudela for racist behaviour, and a three-match ban to Glen Kamara for his reaction to the racist slur cast on him.
Racial awareness activist ‘Tunde Adelakun has leant his weight on the matter, saying that UEFA’s actions in this matter was ‘an absolute joke which highlights what we have always been saying about why we still have racism operating actively in our sport’.
Adelakun, a British-Nigerian who plies his trade as Chief Scout to Nigeria’s national football team has always advocated for the football authorities to do more than they are doing to eradicate racism from football.
‘Only a few days ago, I called on the authorities to wade in seriously and decisively on this matter. We know racism in football is an extension of racism in the wider society. But football can play its part in educating every facet of the tribe on the effects of racism’.
There has been wide acclaim against the ban handed to Kudela and the impact of the ban, and Tunde Adelakun believes it was not enough and will be ‘no deterrent in any way, against such abuse being repeated in future.
‘UEFA had a big opportunity to put its foot down on this matter, with the Kudela case, and unfortunately did not take it. A 10-game ban for calling a fellow human being a ‘f***ing monkey’! That has got to be the biggest joke in the land’ the author and journalist turned coach exclaimed.
‘A 10-game ban will not stop the next player from saying worse things to a fellow player in future. If you slap him with a 1-2 year ban and punish his club for not giving enough education to their players – a big fine, a points deduction or something really heavy, then everyone, and I mean everybody in the football tribe will watch over their respective shoulders and caution each other on what is right and what is wrong’.
UEFA went on to ban Kamara for 3 matches, for reacting to the racial slur. When Adelakun was asked on this, his reaction was ‘Let me just laugh, I can’t comment otherwise I will say what I should not say’.
Adelakun has been calling on the football bodies to act, not only in punishing culprits but also providing a support system for players that were racially abused, and he took this chance to say it again.
‘I have said that players who are called names should be supported. By banning Kamara, you are punishing him for reacting to being called a ‘f****ing monkey’, but you are not supporting him and how he has been feeling since he was called that derogatory name. And that is wrong. Kamara is Finnish but we know he has Sierra Leonian roots.
‘In this case, I would love to know what the Finnish Football Federation have done to support his mental health having been called what he was called.
‘And I ask the question, if he was an African player, should we not see an organisation like CAF coming to his aid, supporting him and fighting the punishment being meted out to him?’ Adelakun, the voice of mental mindset awareness known as TundeTalks concluded.
UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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Tottenham Hotspur have sacked manager Ange Postecoglou, the club said on Friday, little more than two weeks after the Australian guided the London club to a first major trophy in 17 years with victory in the Europa League final.
While Postecoglou’s fate has split opinion amongst the fans, the 59-year-old ultimately paid the price for an horrendous Premier League season which saw Tottenham finish 17th.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place,” Tottenham said in a statement.
“Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.”
Postecoglou leaves two years to the day after his appointment and 16 days after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for the club’s first silverware since 2008, a win that also put them in next season’s Champions League.
The former Celtic manager has had to face questions over his future for several months, yet delivered on his claim early last season that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a job
He also took Tottenham to the League Cup semi-final but their league campaign was their worst since 1976-77, the last time the club suffered relegation from the top flight.
Several of the club’s first team have voiced their support for Postecoglou since beating United, but chairman Daniel Levy is now searching for his fifth full-time manager in six years since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in 2019.
“At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign,” the club said. “Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
Several managers have been linked to the Tottenham job, including Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner.
GOOD START
Postecoglou will walk away with his pride intact and a handsome bonus, but his recent comment to fans at the Europa League victory parade that the third season of a TV series is always better than the second now looks hollow.
It all started so well for Postecoglou. He began the 2023-24 campaign by guiding Tottenham to their best start to a top-flight season since the 1961 title-winning team.
That form soon dipped though and despite finishing fifth in his first campaign the momentum had long since gone.
This season Tottenham earned only 38 points and lost 22 top-flight matches. They managed five points from their last 12 league games and the only win they earned during that run was against a Southampton side who narrowly avoided becoming statistically the worst team ever in the Premier League.
Postecoglou has pointed to a long injury list which denied him the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Son Heung-min for significant periods.
But while it has clearly been one of long-serving chairman Levy’s toughest calls, he has concluded that Postecoglou is not the man to lead the club forward.
“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision,” the club statement said.
“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”
Many fans reacted to the news of Postecoglou’s sacking with surprise, but England manager Thomas Tuchel said that sometimes even winning a trophy is not enough.
“I feel for every manager and I have huge sympathy for every manager in these moments because I was in the same spot,” the German, who was sacked by Chelsea despite taking them to the Champions League title, said on Friday.
“If the trust is not there anymore then sometimes it’s not enough to win a trophy.”
-Reuters
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UEFA apologised for running out of winners’ medals during the Europa League final trophy ceremony on Wednesday after more Tottenham Hotspur players lined up to receive their prizes.
Spurs captain Son Heung-min and two other players, the last to line up for individual medals, were left empty-handed after their team beat Manchester United 1-0 to win the club’s fourth European title on Wednesday.
Son lifted the trophy without a medal around his neck.
“To our great displeasure, we did not have enough medals available on stage during the trophy ceremony presentation due to an unexpected discrepancy in the player count …” British media quoted European soccer’s governing body as saying on Thursday.
“More team members – including injured players – participated in the ceremony than initially anticipated.
“The missing medals were promptly delivered to the winning team in the dressing room, along with our sincerest apologies for the oversight.”
-Reuters
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