Bongani Zungu has addressed the notion that his loan at Rangers did not turn permanent because he broke Covid-19 protocol in Scotland.
In March this year, the Scottish FA handed six-match bans to Zungu and four of his teammates for breaching Coronavirus rules in the country following reports that he, along with Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey as well as youth academy players Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude went to an illegal house party at the height of the pandemic.
Speaking exclusively to Soccer Laduma from France this week, Zungu did not deny that he indeed visited teammate Bassey at his home, but what he does dispute, is that their gathering was a party due to the strict health restrictions.
"I want to give my version of what happened when the media said I went to a party. You know how hard it was for me to arrive there and not see anyone except my teammates for about six months? I was going to training, the game then home and repeating it over and over," the 29-year-old explained.
"When I got into trouble, I didn't mean for that to happen. I went to Calvin Bassey's home and I thought that was safe because we test (for Covid) all the time at the club. I was shocked people said there was a party. I took a picture with someone there, but the whole thing was blown out of proportion, especially in South Africa and now everyone thinks I didn't stay at Rangers because of that. But people's opinions don't bother me."
Zungu said his loan spell from Frech side Amiens, despite the lack of game-time, was a significant learning curve in his topflight career since moving to Europe five years ago.
"My experience there wasn't great on the pitch yes, but the team was winning and I had to understand that Steven Gerrard can't just change the winning formula. Rangers paid a loan fee, obviously, which showed the coach was really interested. But to make it permanent became too expensive," the midfielder said of his time with the eventual Scottish champions.
