THE footage of Glen Kamara trudging off the pitch in Prague makes my heart wretch for him.

A sobering mixture of the serious, worldwide societal issue and the relatively minor frustrations of a football fan clashing: Kamara had been booed constantly for 90 minutes in backlash to the racist abuse he suffered six months ago and was then sent off for a laughable second yellow that was so minor it barely warranted a free-kick. The micro and the macro clashing, centuries of institutionalised racism meets anger at a referee.

The aftermath of the Kudela-Kamara incident was nasty and it is clear the bad feeling has not subsided. I drew a sigh of relief when Rangers avoided Slavia Prague in the Champions League qualifiers a couple of months ago, little did I know drawing Sparta Prague would lead to the same bitter aftertaste I expected from drawing Slavia.

Many in the city of Prague and the wider nation of the Czech Republic feel it has been wronged by the aftermath of the abuse and subsequent banning of Kudela. The aftermath of a significant proportion of attending school children and their accompanying adults booing Kamara when he touched the ball looks like it could have an even worse fallout than the events of six months ago. The Czech Foreign Minister plans to take this matter up with his British counterpart on Monday, a man putting the weight of a besmirched footballing nation on its shoulders as this escalates into a horrible debacle that goes way beyond football.

READ MORE: Glen Kamara, and why those who enable and downplay Rangers midfielder's abuse are as immature as the kids who booed him - OldFirmFacts

I don’t claim to be an expert in the demographic and socioeconomic problems that face the Czech Republic, so to avoid embarrassing myself this will be as high-level a review of how I feel this has unravelled so badly.

When Kudela was accused of racially abusing Kamara, Slavia Prague took the worst possible approach to an accusation of racism; barely an hour after the game had concluded they dismissed it. No period of reflection, no attempt to investigate, just a flat-out refusal to entertain that their player could have done this.

Everything that has followed on stems from this. Slavia did not consider Kudela was in the wrong, because it was the easy thing to do. They assumed innocence and strongly backed their player - whether through genuine belief or not - due to a lack of physical evidence.

There is no video or audio evidence of what Kudela said when he cupped his hand over Kamara’s ear. It was the word of two Rangers players versus one Slavia Prague player. Slavia thought this would be the end of the situation and assumed there would be no way to find Kudela guilty and therefore fully backed their player.

What followed was a hardening of opinions. It was no longer a lone accusation of racism. It was now Kudela, Slavia and countless fans and journalists who took up this position - 'you can’t prove Kudela did it and that’s the end of the story'. UEFA took a different position, found Kudela guilty and banned him for 10 games. Cue a further hardening of opinions - 'how can they find guilt with no evidence'?

The noise of the booing that rung around the Letná Stadium on Thursday showed this has transcended football. Rival football fans have put traditional boundaries aside as they feel so strongly about this. The Czechs have convinced themselves Kamara was dishonest, Kudela was unfairly punished, and the reputation of Prague has suffered a blow as the footballing world watched on as events transpired.

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The booing doesn’t make thousands of children inherently racist, what breeds racism is the insular, hysterical reaction from many in the Czech Republic to an accusation of racism. They haven’t viewed the incident through Kamara’s eyes, and have instead painted themselves as victims and created an atmosphere where Glen Kamara could be viewed as the villain by thousands of children. Not only is it sad to hear, but it is a prime example of how racism is trivialised and normalised. It can only bolster the confidence of racists.

All this links back to the “burden of proof” and how it can have such a negative impact on the victim and emboldens the perpetrator. While it was welcome that UEFA found Kudela guilty - the scale of punishment could be strongly debated - Kamara still faces the consequences for speaking up about being racially abused. It may even reach the point where it is unsafe for Kamara to travel to the Czech Republic for a fixture in future should he be required.

There is no magic bullet that fixes the problem of racism. There’s no end in sight worldwide, but even less end in sight with regards to engagement with detractors from the Czech Republic. This will heartbreakingly follow Glen Kamara and other black players for the rest of their careers.

What we can do is learn lessons from it. Firstly, from the remarkable Kamara. Not that there is a right or wrong way to react to racism (nor that I as a white man will ever know), but his calmness and professionalism in the face of such a reaction from the Sparta crowd has been incredible to witness. He dusts himself down and gets on with things. The quiet man of Rangers should be an inspiration to us all as he remains steady and calm despite what has been aimed at him.

We can also learn what happens when you don’t believe someone who claims they’ve been the victim of discrimination. Many would have preferred Kamara stayed quiet and got on with things. Victims of racism need to be heard, or nothing changes. And that should be the case even when we don’t like the accusation, whether it’s racism, sectarianism, or any other form of discrimination: listen to the person making the accusation.

Glen Kamara’s story has been an eye-opener for everyone. It will sadly continue to unfold. Where UEFA remain toothless, victims such as Glen will continue to suffer.

Until the competent authorities get tough and the rules change, there is no immediate path out of this endless pattern of abuse.