Ondřej Kúdela (born 26 March 1987) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga 1 club Persija Jakarta and the Czech Republic national team. He previously played for Slovácko, Sparta Prague, Mlada Boleslav, Slovan Liberec, and Slavia Prague. Kúdela also had loan spells at Kladno and Kazakh club FC Ordabasy.

Style of play

Kúdela is normally played as a centre-back, 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.

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 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 side that won the 2010–11 Czech Cup, being substituted off in the 8th minute of the final, and also the side that won the 2015–16 Czech Cup. 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. 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 against Brazil.

Controversy

On 18 March 2021, Kúdela was accused of racial abuse Rangers on Glen Kamara during a Europa League Round of 16 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 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, 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

SK Slavia Prague Czech Rupublic U-20 Individual