The penalty for racism

UEFA have handed out a 10-game ban to Ondrej Kudela (the Slavia Prague player accused of racially abusing Rangers' Glen Kamara during the Europa League tie at Ibrox).

UEFA also handed out a 3-game ban to Kamara for his conduct in the aftermath of the (then purported) racial abuse.

It seems that UEFA are satisfied that Kudela was guilty of racially abusing Kamara. They have since handed out the minimum penalty for this infraction. I've had a quick skim on the Rangers site here and a large portion of their fans appear to be content or satisfied with the ban. Is 10 games really sufficient for racist abuse towards a fellow player?

Clearly this will be open for discussion, but my feelings reflect those of Kamara's lawyer, Aamer Anwar - in that is far too lenient and barely sends out any message/deterrent that racism (of any kind) will be tolerated.

Thinking on examples off the top of my head in relation to other major incidents leading to significant bans (in sport generally) - if you cheat, like Steve Smith did for Australia with ball-tampering, he got 12 months I think? Use of banned substances in all sports carries a significant ban from WADA (usually at least a year, if not longer). Suarez got 4 months for biting Chiellini. Is (blatant) racism so low down on the punishment ladder that 10 games is all it costs?

As Anwar said, UEFA had a golden opportunity to send out the strongest possible message as regards this abhorrent subject. A year is the least an offender deserves in these circumstances. They bottled it. Just like they bottle it every other time the allegations arise (either in stadiums with complaints from players about fans [before lockdown], or on-field issues).

It begs the obvious question of what will it take for UEFA to wise up and understand that so much more needs to be done!? If I was Kamara (having been subjected to this abuse) I would have more than earned the 3-game ban he received for his conduct (I will come on to this shortly). Is there an argument (devil's advocate question) to suggest UEFA is institutionally racist, given its fundamental lack of action on a regular basis?

I can't help but feel for Kamara and all other players (and people) affected by this. The trolling on social media is out of control. Nothing is seemingly being done about it and it feels to me like a great big carpet is being made to sweep it all under. It's appalling what these players have to go through (more so, when it is daily or even hourly).

As for Kamara - he should not have been banned at all. He reacted to intense and outrageous provocation and should be absolved for that. He made a stand there and then, with emotions rightly running high and he called out an incident or major societal wrongdoing. Why that merits being punished is beyond me. At worst, he should have been given a warning for his future conduct.

So where do we go from here? I hope Kamara appeals the leniency of Kudela's ban. I hope he appeals his own ban too. I can't see it happening though sadly and it's going to take another issue to flare up before the UEFA circus sits down and lets the clowns that make the decisions have another go.