Slavia striker Chorý sent off for rude gesture at the referee

Slavia Prague striker Chorý was shown a red card in the 55th minute of the home match against Hradec Králové after referee Všetečka decided the player had given him the middle finger. Chorý himself was, according to reports, only rubbing his face after a collision. It is serious trouble for the forward, and not for the first time.

What happened on the pitch

Play was stopped as the visitors were about to make a substitution. Out of nowhere, Všetečka pulled a red card out of his pocket and showed it to Chorý. The striker was baffled and went to ask for an explanation, but the referee waved him away and discussed the situation with Slavia captain Tomáš Holeš.

It all began with a clash between Chorý and visiting defender Tomáš Petrášek: in a duel between two big players, Chorý went down, lay on the ground for a while and then held his nose. Play carried on, and when the ball went out for a throw-in, he kept rubbing the sore spot on his face. That, in the referee's version, was when he showed the middle finger, trying to hide it by scratching his nose. In the match report Všetečka wrote: “a gesture meant to humiliate or mock the referee during a stoppage in play”, adding that in his impression the gesture was aimed at him.

The coach's reaction

Slavia coach Jindřich Trpišovský was blunt: “Nonsense. These are things that have no place in football. The red card came at the moment when we were playing our best spell of the match. If it hadn't been for the card, we would have won. It cost us points.” According to him, the team lost its closing pressure. The coach also said the 31-year-old forward will not fly to Istanbul on Tuesday for the Champions League match against Fenerbahçe: “Let him rest. We'll see how we handle it from here.”

Not the first scandal

This is a big problem for Chorý. After his sending-off in the May derby against Sparta, which was not played to the end because of fan misbehavior, club chairman Jaroslav Tvrdík removed him from the squad: he had elbowed Sparta defender Asger Sørensen in the face. According to Tvrdík, the whole team was “on probation” after earlier incidents.

The dressing room, the coaching staff and club owner Pavel Tykač stood up for the key striker, and in the summer it was decided that Chorý would stay. Another culprit of that derby, also sent off, David Douděra, moved to Cincinnati. Chorý said he felt relief after the decision and could think only about football. In early September he scored twice against Zbrojovka Brno, then scored against Bohemians and Plzeň. The calm period ended on Saturday with another scandal.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz