On Monday, the English Football Association suspended Tottenham’s Uruguayan international midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for seven matches and fined him 100,000 pounds ($126,000), due to racist comments towards his South Korean teammate Heung-Min Son.
The English Federation said in a statement: “Rodrigo Bentancur denied the accusations against him, but the independent committee proved them to be true and therefore took the penalty following a hearing.”
Bentancur will not play any match in any local competition and will therefore miss matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the local league, in addition to the quarter-final match of the League Cup against Manchester United, and will return on December 26.
In contrast, Bentancur can only participate in the European League (Europa League).
The English Football Association brought charges against Bentancur last September based on Section “F3” of the Disciplinary Committee’s rules for misconduct following a press interview.
The FA added that Bentancur’s statements constitute “a serious violation because they include a reference, whether explicit or implicit, to nationality, race or ethnic origin.” Bentancur apologized to Son, saying he “did not mean to say anything intentionally offensive.”
In the relevant television interview in Uruguay, when one of the broadcasters asked him for the South Korean’s shirt, Bentancur replied, “Sonny’s shirt? It could also be one of Sony’s relatives because they are all similar.” He later apologized on social media, saying his comments were a “very bad joke.”
Bentancur has made 15 appearances for Tottenham this season and scored his first goal during the defeat to Ipswich Town on 11 November.
Son commented on the incident in September, “I love Rodrigo. We have many memories. We started playing together after he joined (in January 2022).”
He continued, “He apologized immediately after coming from vacation. I was at home. I did not know what was happening. He sent me a long message and you can feel that it came from his heart.”
He continued, “When we returned to the pre-season camp, he felt sorry and almost cried when he apologized publicly and personally. We are all human and we make mistakes and learn from them.”
Former Manchester United striker and Bentancur native Edinson Cavani was previously banned for three matches and fined £100,000 in 2020 for using the Spanish term “negrito” (little black person) in a social media post.
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