Rodrigo Bentancur has been given a seven-match ban and a £100,000 fine by the FA after he made a racist remark about Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min.
The Football Association first charged Bentancur in September after he suggested that all people from South Korea ‘looked the same’ during a TV interview in June.
The midfielder swiftly apologised for his comments, calling it ‘a very bad joke’, with his apology accepted by Spurs captain Son who also skippers the South Korean national team.
Bentancur denied the charge but a statement from the FA on Monday read: ‘An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.
‘It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute.
‘It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.
‘Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing.’
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In an interview on Uruguayan Television programme Por La Camiseta, Bentancur was asked by reporter Rafa Cotelo to see one of the football shirts in the player’s collection when the following exchange occurred:
Cotelo: ‘Your shirt… well, what about the Korean’s shirt?’
Bentancur: ‘Sonny?’
Cotelo: ‘Or a champion.’
Bentancur: ‘Or one of Sonny’s cousins as they all look more or less the
same.’
The comments went viral and sparked outrage but Son later said that all was forgiven between the pair: ‘He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised.
‘Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.’
Bentancur, 27, has been a key cog in Tottenham’s team this season, featuring in all but two of their 17 games so far.
His suspension means he will now miss the club’s next seven domestic fixtures, including huge Premier League clashes against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.
He will however be able to play in Spurs’ Europa League games and will return to domestic action on Boxing Day when his side travel to Nottingham Forest.
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