Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela continues to deny racism despite being found guilty, as he bizarrely apologised while trying to protest his innocence.
The centre-back has been found guilty of abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during a Europa League clash at Ibrox in March.
The Czech international covered his mouth and called his opponent a "f*****g monkey", provoking an understandably furious reaction.
UEFA have handed down a 10 game ban which will see Kudela miss the Euro 2020 clash with Scotland in June and in all likelihood the entire tournament.
And the defender has bizarrely doubled down on his claims of innocence.
Kudela tried to deny his actions by claiming he'd said "f*****g guy" and that flimsy explanation clearly did not wash with UEFA.
But in a statement he said: "I am surprised that the UEFA Disciplinary Committee has reached a different conclusion than its inspector before.
"According to him, there was no convincing evidence for the accusation of racism against me, which I continue to reject.
"In retrospect, I realise that it was a mistake to go to Glen Kamara at all and say anything to him. There were emotions in the match and unfortunately I can't take it back now. I'm so sorry."
Kudela's lawyers are considering filing an appeal but it appears he may be out on his own as Slavia Prague are set to accept the decision.
The Czech league leaders initially stood by their player in the aftermath of the incident, drawing widespread condemnation.
Later Slavia promised to "act" if their player was found guilty, though it remains to be seen what kind of sanction they will hand down.
But in a statement of their own they hinted that they will not appeal and promised tough action on racism, notably stating "Slavia never discriminated against any minority as a club."
President Jaroslav Tvrdik said: "Ondrej was suspended for 10 UEFA games and as a club we respect the decision.
"In any case, Ondrej Kudela should not have approached the opposition player.
"I deeply regret that and apologise to Glen Kamara for a situation that has clearly caused distress to him and his teammates, as well as everyone associated with Slavia and Rangers.
"I am taking positive steps to prevent such a situation from happening in our club ever again.
"We want to learn even more from this situation, and we are open to cooperation with major anti-racism British organisations on workshops and setting up even more robust internal club rules.
"It is a way for us to organise a broader dialogue that should result in mutual understanding between people in Czechia as well as the UK. This would benefit all players, fans, and citizens."
