Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela has withdrawn his appeal against a 10-match UEFA ban for "racist behaviour" towards Rangers' Glen Kamara and apologised to the Finnish midfielder.
Kudela and Slavia strenuously denied the initial accusations levelled by Kamara in March 2021, with the Czech Republic international alleged to have made a racist comment while covering his mouth towards the end of an ill-tempered Europa League round-of-16 second leg that Rangers lost 2-0, eliminating them from the competition.
UEFA initially gave Kudela a one-match ban for "insulting players or others present at the match", but following a full investigation that was increased to 10 games in April.
Slavia accused Kamara of attacking Kudela after the game, and the Rangers man was given a three-match suspension "for assaulting another player".
Czech government official Vratislav Mynar, head of the office of the country's president, responded in an open letter to UEFA at the time, calling its decision "the pinnacle of hypocrisy".
But 11 months on, Kudela has withdrawn his appeal and said he is "so sorry" for approaching Kamara at all.
A statement from his legal counsel, which was posted on Slavia's website, read: "In agreement with the client, we will file a withdrawal today against UEFA's disciplinary decision on international sports arbitration before the Swiss Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. We respect the client's wishes to end the matter."
Kudela added: "I realise that it was a mistake to go to Glen Kamara at all and tell him anything. There were emotions in the match and unfortunately I can't take it back now. I'm so sorry.
"I am glad that this line of the story is over. The whole case has been going on for a long time, but I just want to focus on football.
"I would like to close it definitively, so after a long deliberation and agreement with the club, I told my lawyers to stop the ongoing international sports arbitration."
It was also confirmed that Scottish law enforcement will not be taking any further action against Kudela for the incident.
'Professional' Rangers thump Westdyke 24-1 in Scottish Cup third round
Rangers booked their place in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup in convincing fashion with a 24-1 away win over Westdyke on Sunday.
The Gers returned from the final international break of the year in style as they began the defence of the trophy they won for the first time in the club's history last season.
Kirsty Howat and Jane Ross scored five goals each, with Mia McAulay netting a hat-trick as well as a double for Sarah Ewens in her first minutes of the campaign.
There was also a competitive first-team debut for 15-year-old Lily Boyce, playing the entirety of the second half in the third round tie at Lawsondale Playing Fields.
"Obviously, we scored a lot of goals, disappointed with the one that we conceded, but job done really. We have spoken about habits before," assistant Jay Bradford said.
“It is about us maintaining our standards and making sure we are doing what we want to see from a staff perspective and I thought we did that for the most part."
There were also some big scorelines from the other 16 fixtures taking place on Sunday, with Celtic and Motherwell also sealing their place in the next round.
Celtic warmed up for their Champions League tie against Real Madrid on Wednesday by beating Glasgow Women 13-0, with Maria McAneny and Hana Kerner scoring hat-tricks.
Motherwell, meanwhile, dispatched second-tier side Rossvale 7-0, with seven different goalscorers on target at the Kirkintilloch Community Sports Complex
Mbappe: 'I know what I have to do to win Ballon d'Or'
Kylian Mbappe is confident he "will win" the Ballon d'Or, insisting he knows what he must do to land the prestigious individual accolade.
The Real Madrid forward has scored nine goals in his first 15 LaLiga appearances since joining Los Blancos from Paris Saint-Germain.
However, he has found the net just once in the opening five games of Madrid's Champions League defence.
The Champions League is the title that has eluded Mbappe over the years, with the 2018 World Cup winner coming closest when he helped PSG reach the 2019-20 final, before losing to Bayern Munich.
Nevertheless, the 25-year-old believes he is at the "best club" to win Europe's premier club competition, while there are other notable achievements on his wishlist.
"Which top trophy is left for me? The Champions League, that's why I’m at the best club," Mbappe told Canal+.
"And the Euros, and why not make it to the Olympics one day? Individual trophies count, too, like the Ballon d'Or. I know what I have to do to win it, a lot of things on and off the field. When I do everything I need to do to win it, I will win it."
Mbappe also addressed his recent omissions from Didier Deschamps' France squad for their Nations League campaign.
"The French national team has always been the highest level of football," he said. "My love for the French national team hasn't changed.
"Yes, I miss it, because I haven't been there for a long time. In September, I asked the coach not to go. I had just arrived in Madrid. I had a very short vacation. The coach insisted that I go.
"After October, I got injured, I wasn’t on the list. I was talking to them, and the coach told me it was better not to call me up. He's the boss, I'm behind him. I wanted to go, but I can't say why they didn't call me."
Atletico Madrid 4-3 Sevilla: Griezmann brace settles seven-goal thriller
Antoine Griezmann's second-half brace earned Atletico Madrid a stunning 4-3 victory over Sevilla in LaLiga on Sunday, claiming their ninth straight win in all competitions.
The result moved Diego Simeone's side up to third in the standings after 16 games so far, a point behind Real Madrid and three adrift of leaders Barcelona.
After Griezmann had rattled the crossbar early on, Atletico took the lead in the 10th minute through Rodrigo De Paul's fierce effort into the roof of Alvaro Fernandez's net.
But Sevilla responded just two minutes later, with Dodi Lukebakio levelling the scores before Isaac Romero rounded off a quick counter-attack with a fine finish.
Juanlu Sanchez then put the visitors two goals in front in the 57th minute, tucking the ball past Jan Oblak after being picked out by the influential Kike Salas.
But Atletico's comeback started five minutes later as Griezmann reduced the deficit before substitute Samuel Lino's effort from distance restored parity in the capital.
However, more drama would unfold after Griezmann gathered Lino's pass, firing the ball in off the crossbar in the fourth minute of second half stoppage time.
Data Debrief: The late late show
Atletico laid down a huge marker of their title credentials this season on Sunday, with their powers of recovery on show with their late turnaround on home soil.
And the hosts were worthy of their dramatic triumph, having registered an expected goals (xG) of 2.11 from their 14 shots compared to Sevilla's 0.39 from their four efforts.
Griezmann proved to be Atletico's saviour once again, with the Frenchman putting on an impressive display in the process. He registered the most shots on target (three) and touches in the opposition box (nine) for his side, while also accumulating a team-high xG tally of 0.76.
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