Steven Gerrard slams SFA for incosistent approach to punishing Covid rule-breakers
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard did not hold back when explaining the decision to appeal the suspensions of the Covid five.
Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu, Calvin Bassey and two youth players all received six-game bans for attending a party in February.
However, Gerrard argues the Scottish FA have ignored Rangers’ in-house discipline, with each player left out of action for a period and given a stern talking to.
The Gers boss also pointed out the lenient way in which the SFA responded to Celtic bending Covid rules.
In his Hibernian pre-match press conference, Gerrard said, “Listen, the boys have made a mistake and at the time it was indefensible.
“But we were at the forefront of being on top of it. We suspended our players and we gave them the maximum fine.
“They missed games on the back of that but that was our decision at the club, we weren’t told by the government to do that.
“That was our decision and also handing down the maximum fine. I was firm and strong with what I said to those players face-to-face in terms of it being unacceptable and about how we as a club felt.
“But there are so many inconsistencies around these punishments.
“Nothing came on the back of Celtic going to Dubai. We never heard nothing on the back of that.
“Bolingoli decided to go to a different country, came back, trained with his players without telling anyone and then was involved against Kilmarnock. I think he was given five games, three suspended.”
Unfair treatment
It is brilliant to have Gerrard fighting Rangers’ corner as the SFA have clearly ignored the work we did to reprimand our players.
Celtic and Aberdeen did not do the same thing, with the former instead to blame for Christopher Jullien catching Covid in January – on the Dubai trip.
And yet the punishment for our players has been harsher.
It simply does not make any sense, with the Covid five picking up a similar punishment to George Edmundson and Jordan Jones earlier in the season.
Gerrard has explained the cases were not comparable but the SFA has not taken that into account, leaving him and us mystified.
For whatever reason, the SFA are keen to put Gers down and do not care about the club’s measures to ensure rules are not broken again.
In other Rangers news, Derek Ferguson gives ‘phenomenal’ response to ‘outrageous’ Rangers news this week.