Rangers appeal bans handed to quintet who broke coronavirus rules

| 02 April 2021

Rangers appeal bans handed to quintet who broke coronavirus rules

The SFA announced the determinations in the case were under appeal, though no hearing date has yet been set.

Rangers have appealed against the four-match bans handed to five of their players for breaching Covid-19 regulations.

First-team players Nathan Patterson, Bongani Zungu and Calvin Bassey, plus academy youngsters Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude, who is on loan at Queen of the South, were charged by the Scottish Football Association after flouting lockdown rules by attending an illegal house party last month.

Their punishments came with a further two-match ban suspended until the end of the season.

On Friday, the SFA announced the determinations in the case were under appeal, though no hearing date has yet been set.

Police were called out to break up an illegal gathering in a property in Glasgow's West End in the early hours of February 14.

The quintet have already been fined by Gerrard for their involvement, which they later apologised for in an interview with the club's TV channel.

Gerrard said he had been "let down" by the behaviour of his players, revealing they had had been told in "no uncertain terms" about what is expected of them after they were allowed to re-join his squad following a period of self-isolation.

The players were charged with breaching the SFA's disciplinary rule 24, which requires players to comply with coronavirus rules. They were also accused of breaching rule 77, which covers the failure "to act in the best interests of Association Football".

Earlier this season, their Ibrox team-mates Jordan Jones and George Edmundson were banned for seven games for a similar breach of the rules.