Frank McAvennie has slammed the Scottish FA after they banned five Glasgow Rangers players for six games for breaking health protocols.

McAvennie slams SFA's Rangers decision

Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Bongani Zungu, Dapo Mebude and Brian Kinnear all attended a house gathering earlier this year and were therefore banned for six matches (Sky Sports).

However, speaking to Football Insider, former Celtic player McAvennie believes the punishment is too harsh. Speaking in particular about Patterson, he said:

"He’s only a boy, people keep forgetting that he’s just a young kid.

"I know he’s done wrong but oh my god, I just can’t find in my heart the ability to have a go at these players. 

"They’re just boys and they’ve done wrong. I know we have the rules but my god, some of the things that are getting batted around about these players, you’d think they’d committed murder. 

"Fine them and give them a slap on the wrist but don’t harm their careers, they’re young athletes who have to get things out of their system. 

"I’m not praising them or anything but he’s a young boy, give him a fine, take it and move on. You can’t have a go at them."

If you can't do the time...

This is certainly a difficult situation to judge. Steven Gerrard made a decent point in regards to the ban, questioning the consistency of the SFA's decisions throughout the campaign (via The Glasgow Times). Arguably, Patterson and co have been held to a higher standards than others have.

However, quite frankly, the quintet have no-one else to blame but themselves. When they decided to meet up, they knew full well they were disregarding the rules, yet they did it anyway. Once they have served their sanction, the whole saga should not be held against them, but for now, they need to learn the error of their ways.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this journalist's comments.