Czech Republic's Sparta Prague football ultras shout racist insults and throw beer cups at Black Monaco player

Yesterday’s football match of the third preliminary Champions League round between Monaco and Sparta Prague in the Czech capital was marked by racist insults cooked up and delivered by Sparta Prague ultras. In addition to racist insults, plastic beer cups rained down on Monaco midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni after he scored a goal.

The homegrown hooligans roared racist insults at other Monaco players during the match. David Lafata, an announcer who used to be captain of Sparta Prague, did his best to calm the turbulent atmosphere.   

“We won, but the main thing for me is what happened after our first goal. We’re all sad and disappointed that this is happening in the 21st century on the football pitch. I really would like this to stop, because we are all equals. Football should be about building bridges. We are proud of our players, because we reacted to the provocation correctly. Some of them were very upset, but we came here to play football,” Niko Kovač, the trainer for Monaco, told news server isport.cz after the match. 

The entire matter could be taken up by the commission on discipline of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) as far as the individual hooligans are concerned. After the match, the Monaco players did not avail themselves of the opportunity to express their gratitude to those who attended the match, as is traditional.