2nd Czech club fined for fans’ racist abuse of player
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech soccer league on Thursday fined a club 160,000 Czech crowns ($6,700) after its fans racially abused an opposing player during a cup game, the second such case in a week.
The incident occurred June 17 during the game between Sparta Prague and Plzen when a number of fans directed racist insults at Plzen midfielder Joel Kayamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sparta won the game 2-1 to advance to the cup final.
“The disciplinary committee won’t tolerate racist expressions at the league stadiums,” said Richard Baček, who heads the committee.
A week ago, the league fined another club, Olomouc, 120,000 Czech crowns ($5,050) for racist abuse by fans of Plzen striker Jean-David Beauguel of France, who is Black.
Plzen won the league game 1-0.
Baček said the incident at Sparta, unlike the one at Olomouc, took place just once but more fans were involved, a reason for a higher fine.
There was only a small crowd at the match in Olomouc because of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
