Brown’s post-match interview was described as “class”
Celtic captain Scott Brown has been praised for his support of Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara, just days after the latter was an alleged victim of racist abuse.
During a Europa League match against Slavia Prague, Kamara claimed that centre-back Ondrej Kedel leant into his ear before covering his mouth and saying: “You are a f***ing monkey, you know you are.”
The recently-crowned Scottish champions were eliminated from the Europa League after a 2-0 defeat at home to the Czech side, but Slavia’s victory was overshadowed by the incident in the 87th minute.
The 25-year-old, from Tampere in Finland, released a statement at the end of the week, saying: “If UEFA really want to ‘show racism the red card’, it’s time to stop the tokenism and take a zero tolerance approach.”
“As a player I do not expect myself, nor any other to have to tolerate racial hatred on the pitch in 2021. The vile racist abuse by Ondrej Kedel took place on the international stage and any failure to act by UEFA will be viewed as a green light for racism.”
Before today’s Old Firm fixture, in which Celtic did not give champions Rangers a guard of honour, Kamara was embraced by Celtic skipper Scott Brown.
🤝A touching moment at Parkhead as Celtic captain Scott Brown shows his support to Glen Kamara after the Rangers midfielder suffered alleged racist abuse on Thursday in the Europa League
📺Watch Celtic vs Rangers at home – live on Sky Sports now! pic.twitter.com/qVTZgQLdik
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) March 21, 2021
The gesture was widely praised on social media.
After the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, Brown paid further tribute to the Rangers man.
Class from Scott Brown 👏 pic.twitter.com/OPazRhCzvt
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) March 21, 2021
“I think it’s disgusting what’s happened, to be honest” said Brown, before adding “it doesn’t matter whether it’s a Rangers player or a Celtic player or whoever it is, it [racism] should never be part of the game.”
“It just shows them that we’re with them, we stand with them on racism.”
His interview has subsequently been described as “class”, with many Rangers fans sending their respects to arch-rival Brown.
