Steven Gerrard urges UEFA to take stronger action on racism

Glen Kamara was booed by Czech school children during Rangers' defeat to Sparta Prague

Author: Andrew MacleanPublished 30th Sep 2021

Steven Gerrard is calling on UEFA to take racism more seriously after Glen Kamara was booed by Czech school children during Rangers' defeat to Sparta Prague.

Kamara was racially abused by Slavia Prague Ondrej Kudela earlier this year while Sparta were only allowed kids in their stadium due to a racist incident of their own.

Abuse from the stands was aimed at Monaco's Aurelien Tchouameni in a qualifier last month.

However, Ibrox midfielder Kamara was still targeted during Thursday's clash as they lost 1-0.

Steven Gerrard admits he wasn't aware of it at the time, but is calling for bigger punishments for racist incidents.

He said: “During the game I wasn’t aware as I was obviously focused on the game and the tactical changes to try and get us back in the game

“If those are facts and that’s the truth then I’m extremely disappointed – but not surprised.

“The reason there was a lot of kids in the stadium was because of a previous similar incident.

“So of course, it’s extremely disappointing if that was the case.

“There needs to be more done and not just by myself, but everyone across the world is asking for more extreme punishments in terms of racism.

“It needs to be eradicated.

“But until the powers at be do more and treat is more seriously, until that happens, we’re going to be dealing with these questions for a long time”.