Police Scotland is seeking to prosecute Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela for racially abusing Glen Kamara in a Europa League encounter last month, the Rangers midfielder's lawyer said on Thursday.
Kamara complained of being racially abused by Kudela during the second-leg of a last-16 tie where Rangers was eliminated and European football's governing body UEFA banned the Czech defender for 10 matches on Wednesday.
"Today, Police Scotland confirmed that a case against Ondrej Kudela was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration, relating to a match played between Rangers and Slavia Prague on March 18," Kamara's lawyer Aamer Anwar said in a statement.
"The police believe they have sufficiency of evidence for a criminal charge of 'racially aggravated conduct' by Kudela, towards Glen Kamara," Anwar said.
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Kudela could be fined or even sentenced to up to six months in prison of both if found guilty, Anwar said.
Police Scotland was expected to question Kudela when he was set to travel to London to play Arsenal in the quarterfinals last week, but the club said he was not fit to travel, with UEFA handing him a provisional one-match suspension hours later.
"It is disappointing that to date Mr Kudela has failed to co-operate with Police Scotland, has not attended any police interviews, and has failed to provide a full statement to Police Scotland," Anwar added.
"We would strongly urge Mr Kudela to co-operate with officers carrying out their investigations into his alleged criminal conduct."
Reuters was unable to immediately reach Kudela's lawyer for comment. While Kudela said he was "startled" by UEFA's ruling, Slavia President Jaroslav Tvrdik said his football club respected the verdict and apologised to Kamara for "a situation that has clearly caused distress to him and his team mates".
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