BBC Scotland pundit Michael Stewart has stood by the comments he made in relation to the racist abuse allegedly suffered by Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara - despite facing an angry online backlash.

The former Hearts and Hibs midfielder appeared on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast on Friday night, where the 40-year-old argued that the public had rushed to judgement on Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela without knowing all of the facts of the matter.

The 33-year-old could be seen cupping his mouth and saying something discreetly to Kamara at Ibrox on Thursday night, prompting a furious reaction from the Finland internationalist.

Glasgow Times:

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In a statement published on social media on Friday afternoon, Kamara revealed that he had been subjected to racist abuse - a charge that Slavia Prague wholeheartedly deny. UEFA have since opened an investigation into the incident.

"It does look suspicious and your instinct is to say that he's abused Glen Kamara," Stewart said initially. "But I'm slightly apprehensive and uneasy with proceeding ahead and concluding before we know what conclusion UEFA have come to."

The clip featuring Stewart then went viral, prompting criticism from the likes of former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.

The former England internationalist told Stewart to "educate" himself, adding: "Comments like this are why people suffer in silence and are scared to speak out!"

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But despite the angry backlash, Stewart has doubled down on his comments when appearing on BBC Sportsound on Saturday afternoon.

"I wasn't aware of this until this morning until it was brought to my attention," he said. "Some of the comments that were made towards me and the things I said last night.

"What I'm trying to urge here is that before everyone jumps to conclusions - and of course, Glen Kamara released a statement last night after the show that talks about [Bongani] Zungu being able to corroborate things.

"I'm in no way trying to justify what is going on. I think we need to allow processes to take place so that the victims get the justice they deserve.

"For me to then be lambasted for trying to urge caution - I find that difficult to take.

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"It almost feeds into the point I'm trying to make. People need to pause and take a second to think about things before jumping on bandwagons.

"Because the victims of these things aren't done any justice by amplifying noise.

"Allow the process to take place. If he's found guilty - as I said last night - then the harshest of punishments has to be handed out.

"But I find it very ironic that I myself, urging caution, get lambasted when I'm just trying to make sure the process is followed and the proper punishment is handed down."