SFA set date for appeal of ‘Covid five’ punishments
THE five Rangers players charged with breaching Scottish FA Covid guidelines will discover their disciplinary fate later this month after a date was set for their appeal case.
Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear were suspended by Rangers and subsequently punished by the SFA after attending a house party in February.
The quintet were each handed six-game bans, two of which were suspended until the end of the campaign, following a Hampden hearing but Rangers later confirmed their intention to appeal the sanctions.
A date has now been set for Tuesday, April 20 after discussions between the SFA and Rangers as the Premiership champions look to reduce the punishment handed out to three members of Steven Gerrard’s squad and two Academy kids.
Patterson has deputised for injured captain James Tavernier in recent weeks and he would score in the 4-0 victory over Cove on Sunday as Rangers set up a Scottish Cup fourth-round fixture with Celtic.
The 19-year-old will be able to feature in the Old Firm clash next weekend and he has been credited with an outside chance of making Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the European Championships this summer.
Speaking after the win over Cove, Gerrard said: “The reason for the appeal is the obvious reason. We think it’s harsh in terms of what went on on the night.
“I think everyone assumes because of what happened with Jordan Jones and George Edmundson that everything is the same, which isn’t the case.”