More racism in Czech football: Captain of the Vlašim club banned for eight matches

According to the Vlašim management, the 28-year-old, who plays either defender or midfield, did nothing wrong during the 23rd round of the second league with Líšeň and the accusation is false. The club issued a press release to that effect.

Kulhánek shouted racist slogans at a visiting player during the match in which Vlašim lost 4:5 to Líšeň in a shootout at home on 17 April. “The Disciplinary Commission has heard testimony both from the players involved from each team and from the chief referee. On the basis of its evaluation of the testimonies of all involved and the immediate course of the incident at issue during the match itself, the commission came to the conclusion that player Kulhánek engaged in racist speech toward a Líšeň player,” said Richard Baček, chair of the commission.

The decision has yet to take effect, so Kulhánek, who has played for České Budějovice, Liberec and Sparta Praha, is still allowed to play for now. “The Disciplinary Commission is concerned that in recent weeks, incidents of racism, whether in the stands or among the players at the matches themselves, have become more frequent than before. The Disciplinary Commission refuses to tolerate this and is determined to keep fighting racist speech,” said Baček.

“The Vlašim football club emphatically rejects and distances itself from the accusations of the alleged racist remarks made by team captain Jiří Kulhánek toward the opposing team in the match with SK Líšeň. The club has carried out a thorough internal investigation in which it has given all of the players an opportunity to comment on the situation and nobody noted any statements with racist overtones,” the press release reads.

“We would like to point out that our club has been working with footballers from Africa for a long time and we have never experienced any such problems. Jiří Kulhánek is an experienced footballer who is aware of his position as captain and team leader and has never committed any serious offenses in the past against the club’s internal rules or the Football Association of the Czech Republic,” added the representatives of the seventh team in the second league table.

This is the second professional in the second league whom the Disciplinary Commission has had to punish within a short time period. The first was Dukla Praha trainer Petr Rada, who called Tomáš Polách, the now ex-coach of Brno Zbrojovka, a “g*psy loser”.

The Disciplinary Commission first banned Rada for eight months, but the appeals commission reduced that punishment to a three-month ban. Kulhánek is now also appealing the verdict against him.

“The Vlašim club stands firmly behind its player, who, according to our findings, is facing false accusations, and will take the necessary steps to clear the reputation not just of Jiří, but also of the club as a whole. Everybody in the club is united in believing that racism in any form has no place in football stadiums or in society,” the club’s management said.