Scott Parker admits his displeasure over Terence Kongolo’s surprise birthday party and admits it was ‘not acceptable’ after footage emerged of the Fulham defender breaking Covid lockdown rules to celebrate inside with seven friends
- The Holland international celebrated his 27th birthday on Sunday
- Kongolo was greeted at home by seven friends in the early hours of Monday
- It is believed that Kongolo didn’t know anything about the surprise party
- Scott Parker said the party thrown for his player was ‘unacceptable’
Fulham boss Scott Parker said the surprise birthday party thrown for Terence Kongolo was ‘not acceptable’.
Footage obtained by Sportsmail showed Kongolo greeted at home by seven cheering friends in the early hours of Monday. Currently, no mixing of households indoors is permitted.
Sources say Kongolo had no prior knowledge of the party, which was to celebrate the Holland international’s 27th birthday.
Fulham defender Terence Kongolo (above) is in hot water after breaching Covid regulations
Parker also suggested the club will launch an in-house investigation into the incident.
‘I think like anything you can imagine my reaction to it was not pleased in the current climate in terms of what everyone is facing,’ he said a pre-match press conference.
‘It’s not acceptable to be honest with you.
‘In terms of Terence, he didn’t know too much about it, (that) is my understanding, and the people who planned it put him in a vulnerable position.’
Kongolo, who has been stepping up his recovery from injury, will not feature in Fulham’s upcoming match against Sheffield United, but will play for the under-23s on Friday.
Parker added: ‘Terence won’t be involved this weekend no, he’s playing today for the under-23s.’
Kongolo was unaware that a party had been planned to celebrate his 27th birthday on Sunday
The Holland international celebrated his 27th birthday on Sunday with a place on the bench for the 2-0 win at Everton.
He and the rest of the squad flew back to London from Liverpool at 11.30pm following the 7pm kick-off.
The video, filmed from inside the building, shows Kongolo, wearing his club tracksuit, a mask and holding a travel bag, open the door with two other men.
A group of at least seven people are waiting with loud music blaring. A birthday cake takes centre stage on a stand along with dozens of silver and black balloons. There are loud cheers from the revellers as Kongolo walks in, and a caption of ‘surprise’ appears on the clip.
When the realisation dawns on the defender, he waves a hand in the air and begins to dance to the music. On Wednesday, Kongolo was back in another bio-secure bubble when he was again an unused sub as Scott Parker’s side earned a 1-1 draw at Burnley.
Kongolo was greeted at home by seven cheering friends in the early hours of Monday
All Premier League clubs carry out twice-weekly Covid testing. A series of top-flight players have got into hot water by breaching Covid rules.
Kongolo’s team-mate, Aleksandar Mitrovic, broke restrictions over the festive period when he was pictured on New Year’s Eve with fellow Serb Luka Milivojevic, Crystal Palace’s captain.
Parker, who had to self-isolate over Christmas, described Mitrovic’s breach as ‘not acceptable’, saying he was ‘bitterly disappointed’ and that the club had dealt with the matter internally.
Swiss-born Kongolo was raised in Holland and is a product of the Feyenoord youth system. After lifting the Dutch title he moved to Monaco in 2017 and was loaned to Huddersfield before making the switch permanent in 2018.
In January last year he moved to Fulham on loan with the deal made permanent for around £4million in October.