Czech league fines club for fans' racist abuse of player

PRAGUE (AP) - The Czech soccer league on Thursday fined a club 120,000 Czech crowns ($5,050) after its fans racially abused an opposing player during a game.

The incident occurred Sunday during the game between Olomouc and Plzen when several fans directed racist insults at Plzen striker Jean-David Beauguel of France, who is black.

Plzen won the game 1-0.

'œThe racist expressions by fans cannot be tolerated at the stadiums and such behavior is absolutely unacceptable,'ť said Richard Baček, the head of league's disciplinary committee.

The league said Olomouc would face stricter punishment if a similar incident happens again, but said the club did well in escorting the fans from the stadium and banning them from attending games in the future.

Olomouc also has been cooperating with police in their investigation of the incident, the committee said.

There was only a small crowd at the match because of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The disciplinary committee also opened an investigation into alleged racist abuse of Beauguel and his teammate, midfielder Joel Kayamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo, by Sparta Prague fans during Wednesday's cup game in Prague.

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