Chris Sutton accuses SFA of applying different rules to Rangers and Celtic
BBC pundit Chris Sutton has slammed the SFA’s handling of the Rangers rulebreakers and claims Celtic have got the raw end of the deal this season.
The ‘Rangers Five’ who broked covid-19 protocols by attending a party were handed six-game bans by the Scottish authorities last week, but the club appealed the punishment [Sky Sports] on March 2.
First-team trio Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu and Calvin Bassey are all now cleared to face Celtic in next weekend’s Scottish Cup clash while they wait to hear the final outcome.
Sutton thinks Steven Gerrard has applied different rules to this decision, considering no appeals were mounted when loan duo George Edmundson and Jordan Jones suffered a similar fate in November.
He told the Daily Record: “Turns out the rules should only apply to duff players.
“If you are a talented lad then it doesn’t matter what you do, you can get away with anything as long as you are decent on the ball. Come off it.
“I don’t blame Rangers for having a bash at appealing the bans against their players. That’s up to them.
“But at least be totally honest about it.”
Sutton added: “Why on earth has it taken more than eight weeks to sort out? I can understand why Celtic and Aberdeen’s noses are out of joint.
“Do we have a sliding scale of punishments for the level of party involved?
“It’s nonsense and the SFA’s handling of this has left them wide open to all kinds of accusations.”
More than meets the eye?
It’s more sour grapes from Sutton as he has completely neglected Gerrard’s comments on the incident.
As reported by Glasgow Live, the Gers boss made reference to Edmundson and Jones and said it “isn’t the case” that everything is the same while saying “we think it’s harsh in terms of what went on on the night”.
Clearly the Light Blues hierarchy feel there is more to this than meets the public eye and details will surely start to spill out more after the appeals were mounted.
Of course losing Patterson, for example, is a much bigger blow than the absences of Edmundson and Jones are, highlighted by the way they were shipped out of Ibrox mid-season to English clubs in the second and third-tier, respectively.
But that’s surely not the only reason for fighting this suspension.
Sutton would be advised to keep quiet on matters he knows little about, or do more research to mount a qualified opinion.
In other Rangers news, Gers make contact with EFL club over 12-goal talent that was on the books of Atletico Madrid.