Slavia Prague have demanded the "halt" of "escalating biased pressure" on UEFA and police officials investigating incidents surrounding their Europa League match with Rangers.

Slavia centre-back Ondrej Kudela was accused of racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during a Europa League tie at Ibrox on March 18.

Kamara reacted with fury when Kudela wandered alongside, cupping his hand before allegedly whispering a discriminatory slur – according to the Finn’s statement – into his ear.

Slavia and Kudela have denied the claims, while UEFA has launched an investigation.

Police Scotland are also investigating the racism allegations and Slavia have now claimed that Rangers are putting "biased pressure" on both parties investigating.

A club statement read: "Slavia demands the halt of escalating biased pressure on UEFA and Police officials regarding the investigated incidents reported during 2020/21 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg match between Rangers FC and SK Slavia Praha.

"President of football club SK Slavia Praha, Jaroslav Tvrdík, demands the immediate halt of escalating biased pressure by Rangers’ club representatives (most recently a public statement of the club’s chief, Mr Stewart Robertson, made on 30 March 2021) and other public figures in Scotland on UEFA and Police officials regarding the investigated incidents reported during 2020/21 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second leg match between Rangers FC and SK Slavia Praha on 18 March 2021."

Tvrdík said: “The pending investigations conducted by the officials of UEFA and the local Police have made no findings so far. However, our player Ondřej Kúdela has already been the subject of a public ‘conviction’ without any evidence whatsoever; he is a victim of prejudice and a presumption of guilt.

"The UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector is still conducting an investigation regarding the incidents in question and has been granted additional time until 5 April 2021 to deliver his report.

"We believe in an evidence- and law-based process whereby Ondřej and our club both provide necessary cooperation to the respective authorities. We have presented evidence which, in our view, cleanses Ondřej of an unjustified accusation of racism.”

He continued: “The sad side of the whole matter is that Rangers are trying to cover up overtly aggressive play by their team. During the match itself, our goalkeeper Ondřej Kolář was gravely injured and sustained a frontal sinus fracture while our doctor was prevented to examine him on site even dozens of minutes after the final whistle.

"Not to mention that there were several other serious fouls against our players and a number of those have remained unpunished. Such behaviour does not belong in the prestigious UEFA Europa League.”

He added: “If someone is wondering what happened, the Rangers delegation claimed a wish to speak to Ondřej in order to clarify the alleged racial insult. The conversation was about to take place in the tunnel under the patronage and in the presence of the UEFA match delegation and the coaches of both teams.

"However, the cameras covering the meeting place were purposely covered and then Mr Kamara, with no warning and obviously having zero intention to have the suggested conversation, roughly assaulted Ondřej by punching him to the face. After trying to continue fighting he fled into the dressing room followed by Mr Gerrard without a single word of apology. It is a disgraceful incident.”

Slavia concluded: “Any form of racial discrimination is contrary to our values and principles and we shall never tolerate such conduct. We believe that all people must be free and equal with their rights and dignity. Slavia strictly abides by the policy against racism as detailed by the organization FARE” (Football Against Racism in Europe).

"In light of the foregoing, the club and the player Kúdela await the results of a proper and independent investigation of both incidents. We call for calm until then."

In an interview yesterday Rangers chief Stewart Robertson told how he hopes the alleged abuse directed towards Glen Kamara acts as a catalyst for change as football and society battle to overcome the scourge of racism.

He said: "You could tell by the reaction of Glen and Bongani Zungu that something horrific had been said. I'm in absolutely no doubt what happened having seen video recordings.

"You see the gestures that have been made by other clubs - Dundee United, Motherwell, Scott Brown, and the Scottish national team. That support has been great to see.

"You'd rather it had never happened in the first place and we're not talking about it today, but hopefully it galvanises. You mention taking a knee and how that's changed because people are taking a stand. They have to be more than gestures.

"It's great these gestures are happening and raising the profile but there's a risk that if they keep happening, you don't really notice them after a while. Something else needs to be done to keep the subject matter in people's minds and consciousness.

"After the incident with Glen, we had Rio and Anton Ferdinand tweeting about it and getting it out to really wide audiences. The abuse Kemar Roofe got was discussed in a debate at Westminster about social media.

"If there's any good to come from this, and it's hard to see given the horrific nature of what happened, it might be that people think twice before they do something like this again."