BARRY FERGUSON has blasted UEFA for the 'laughable' ten game ban handed to Ondrej Kudela and insisted the governing body should have made 'a statement' with a lengthy suspension.
Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara accused Kudela of calling him a 'f****** monkey' during the Europa League clash with Slavia Prague last month.
The Czech was this week convicted by a UEFA disciplinary panel but the ten match ban given to him has been widely criticised within football.
And Ibrox legend Ferguson believes the punishment doesn't fit the crime after Kudela avoided a significant suspension from the game.
Ferguson said: “Ten games, for me it’s laughable. I’ll be honest with you, I think they had to make a statement here and I think they should have banned him for 12 months.
“Make a statement. Let people know this is not acceptable.
“So, when I heard the ban come through and it was 10 games, it’s a joke, that’s all I can say.
"It just makes me sick, I was expecting a far more severe punishment.
A powerful interview with Glen Kamara's lawyer @AamerAnwar after UEFA banned Ondrej Kudela for 10 games for racially abusing the Rangers player 👇pic.twitter.com/167HGo78Ga
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 14, 2021
“Make a point, make a statement and ban the player. It’s clear what happened in the game, it was sickening, a disgrace.
“You’ve got to come down on a player tougher than that when they’re found guilty. Some people might call it too severe, but I’m talking 12 months.
“Go and make a statement: ‘This ain’t right what’s happening’.”
The football world would rally round Kamara in the aftermath of the sickening incident in the closing stages of Rangers' 2-0 defeat during the last 16 clash.
🗣️"It is a joke. I would like to see the player sacked."@kickitout Chief Executive Tony Burnett criticises the 10-match ban from UEFA to Slavia Prague's Ondrej Kudela after he was found guilty of racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara. pic.twitter.com/8jfp1WM333
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) April 14, 2021
The Finnish internationalist has himself been given a three-game ban following an alleged altercation in the tunnel that is now being probed by Police Scotland.
Ferguson told The Go Radio Football Show: “I can imagine how Glen Kamara was feeling after being racially abused on the pitch.
“I know what I would do if it happened to one of my team-mates. I would be going absolutely crazy in that tunnel.
“I’m not saying it’s the right way to react but sometimes it gets a bit too much.
“Put yourself in Glen Kamara’s shoes. I know how I would feel and it’s a tough one for him.
"I’m not condoning the reaction. We never saw what happened in the tunnel, but I can imagine. Maybe it came to boiling point and he felt that was the way he had to react.
“If you asked him now, he might say, ‘I wish I went straight to the dressing room’.
“But I can totally understand. I was angry watching the game when I saw it. So, I can imagine how he felt and how his team-mates felt.”
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