Whilst the bans handed out to Rangers star Glen Kamara and racist Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela have dominated headlines, the ban handed out to Kemar Roofe has perhaps flown a little under the radar.
The severity of the situation involving Kamara and Kudela has quite rightly taken precedence given the nature of the racist abuse and the fall-out threatens to rumble on even further.
Rangers say they “intend” to appeal both the bans to Kamara – three matches for an alleged assault – and Roofe – four games for a high boot challenge on keeper Ondrej Kolar.
That Roofe ban will rule the striker out of Rangers’ Champions League Qualifying campaign, something which is a major blow to the club’s chances given the value and ability of the striker.
It could also hurt the club’s bank balance with £30m on the line with qualification.
Roofe, 28, was sent packing for a late lunging challenge on Kolar in the 2-0 Europa League defeat at Ibrox and the tackle had serious consequences for the goalie.
Kolar, 26, suffered a fractured skull and is currently sporting a Kevlar mask whilst playing for the Czechs and he will need to wear a Petr Cech-like head guard for the rest of his career.
There’s a general acceptance that Roofe definitely deserved a red card and perhaps a longer ban but the suggestion the striker led with his leg to hurt Kolar is a fanciful one.
Even if the keeper himself has claimed “he saw me the whole time” [Glasgow Times].
Rangers fans have expressed understanding regarding the situation but they’re not convinced a four-game ban is necessary for an incident which clearly wasn’t deliberate:
https://twitter.com/RangersRadioRFC/status/1382451774062231552
https://twitter.com/Declan_1872_/status/1382315015152283653
https://twitter.com/RFC_9685/status/1382678871510810625
Whilst Rangers have come out to clarify that the club intend to appeal the bans handed to their players, Slavia have taken quite a different approach.
In fact, the latest statement from the Czech Champions directly contradicts their horrendous coverage of the situation in the weeks previous.
