Ondřej Kúdela (; born 26 March 1987) is a Czech professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He previously played for Slovácko, Sparta Prague, Mlada Boleslav, Slovan Liberec, and Slavia Prague. Kúdela also had loan spells at

Kladno Kladno (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 70,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and has a rich industrial history. Administrative division Kladno consists of six municipal parts ...

and Kazakh club

FC Ordabasy FC Ordabasy () is a professional association football, football club from Kazakhstan based at the Kazhimukan Munaitpasov Stadium (Shymkent), Kazhimukan Munaitpasov Stadium in Shymkent. Ordabasy was formed in 1949, following the merger of two exi ...

Club career

Kúdela came up through the youth system at Slovácko and made his debut appearance for the first team in 2005. In 2009, Kúdela was signed by

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...

as a replacement for the outgoing Jan Rajnoch. He remained at the club for eight seasons, except for a half-year loan spell at Kazakh side Ordabasy in 2014. He was part of the Mladá Boleslav team that won the 2010–11 and 2015–16 Czech Cups, coming off as a substitute at the eighth minute of the former final. In January 2017, Kúdela signed a contract with Slovan Liberec for two-and-a-half years. In 2018, Kúdela transferred to Slavia Prague along with head coach Jindřich Trpišovský. With the club, he won a total of three league titles and cups each, as well as one Supercup. In June 2022, Kúdela joined Indonesian Liga 1 side

Persija Jakarta Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Jakarta ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Jakarta'), abbreviated as Persija (), is an Indonesian professional Association football, football club based in the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. Persija Jaka ...

. On 23 July 2022, he made his league debut as a starter in a 0–1 loss against Bali United.

International career

In March 2019, Kúdela debuted for the Czech senior squad during a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Controversy

On 18 March 2021, Kúdela was accused of racial abuse Rangers on Glen Kamara during a Europa League

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

match. Kúdela denied the accusation and claimed he was assaulted by Kamara in the tunnel after the match, and Slavia Prague lodged a criminal complaint while criticising Rangers' handling of the situation. On 14 April, he was officially found guilty of racial abuse by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and was banned for ten UEFA matches, ruling him out of playing any game in the upcoming Euro 2020 championship; Kamara meanwhile was handed a three-match ban for assaulting Kúdela in the tunnel after the game. Kúdela appealed his ban, but the appeal was rejected by UEFA on 26 May 2021. He began the process of appealing the ban to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

, with a statement being scheduled for April 2022. However, one month before the hearing was due to take place, Kúdela dropped his appeal and formally apologised to Kamara. Kamara's lawyer said that his client was happy that the matter had now been closed.

Style of play

Kúdela is normally played as a

, though he has also been used as a defensive midfielder. At the end of the 2021 season, he was voted as the best defender in the Czech league.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

SK Slavia Prague *

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 * Czech Cup: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21 Czech Rupublic U-20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

runner-up:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual *Czech First League Defender of the Year: 2020–21 * Liga 1 Team of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kudela, Ondrej Living people 1987 births People from Bojkovice Czech men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Czech Republic men's international footballers Czech Republic men's youth international footballers Czech Republic men's under-21 international footballers Czech First League players Kazakhstan Premier League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players 1. FC Slovácko players AC Sparta Prague players SK Kladno players FK Mladá Boleslav players FC Ordabasy players FC Slovan Liberec players SK Slavia Prague players Czech expatriate men's footballers Czech expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Footballers from the Zlín Region Persija Jakarta players Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Czech expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia 21st-century Czech sportsmen