Politics
Rangers Covid 5 hit with SFA charge over breaches but are free to face Celtic as Gerrard prepares to take on rivals
RANGERS’ Covid 5 have been hit with an SFA Notice of Complaint.
Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Bongani Zungu, Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude have all been charged by the governing body for allegedly flouting Covid rules last month.
Rangers starlet Nathan Patterson has been filling in for crocked skipper James Tavernier but could now face a lengthy period suspended[/caption]
Bongani Zungu is on a season-long loan from French club Amiens[/caption]
And now they look set to be slapped with match bans after being accused of breaking SFA disciplinary rules 24 and 77 for failing to ‘act in the best interests of Association Football’.
A disciplinary hearing scheduled for Thursday March 25.
It means first-team stars Patterson, Zungu and Bassey will be available to face Celtic in the Parkhead Old Firm clash just four days earlier.
The Covidiots were caught by cops at an illegal gathering in February, with boss Steven Gerrard admitting he felt ‘personally let down’.
But right-back Patterson and South African midfielder Zungu have since been brought back into the fold.
It was the second time Rangers have been rocked by Covid breaches within Ibrox this season.
Jordan Jones and George Edmundson were hammered with seven-game SFA bans after breaking rules by having a house party with pals last November.
The fringe players were later loaned out to Sunderland and Derby.
Calvin Bassey joined Gers from Leicester City last summer[/caption]
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Now Patterson, Bassey and Zungu – along with kids Kinnear and Mebude – are sweating over their fates.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon insists she needs assurances there will be no repeat of the weekend’s rule breaking scenes before she gives the third Old Firm match of the season the go-ahead.
Newly-crowned champions Rangers are due at Celtic Park on March 21 with the Scottish Government fearful of a repeat of the scenes which saw thousands of Rangers fans break lockdown rules as they celebrated their title triumph.
A number of discussions are underway later today and for the remainder of the week with the First Minister saying she will report back once the crunch talks have taken place.
Her comments came as a war of words brewed with Rangers chairman Douglas Park over the rights and wrongs of the weekend celebrations.
Sturgeon said: “In terms of future fixtures, there are a variety of discussions happening over the course of this week including one between myself and the chief constable later today.
“We will report back on those in due course certainly before the scheduled Old Firm match on the 21st of March.
“The reason we’ve tried to keep football and elite sport generally going is not for the benefit really of the elite sports people but for the fans.
“Everybody is being deprived of so much right now that the ability to watch a football match and cheer on your team on the television should be something that people have the ability to do.
“But a minority can’t be allowed to act irresponsibly so I hope that we don’t have to spoil that for the majority but we will have to assure ourselves that there will be no repeat of the kind of scenes we saw at the weekend.
“And that frankly is still very much a work in progress.”
