Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven matches by the Football Association (FA) and handed a £100,000 fine over comments he made about his team-mate Son Heung-min.
Bentancur said that South Korea international Son and his cousins “all look the same” on television programme Por La Camiseta, which is broadcast in his native Uruguay, in June. The 27-year-old later apologised on social media.
Bentancur was charged by the FA in September and was accused of acting “in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute.” The FA added in a statement that the charge further constituted an “aggravated breach” under FA Rule E3.2, as it allegedly involved references to nationality, race, or ethnic origin”.
The Athletic asked Son during a press conference later in September about his reaction to the charge and his relationship with Bentancur.
“The process is with the FA and that’s why I can’t say much about it, but I love Rodrigo,” Son said. “I repeat: I love him, I love him.
“We had a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he joined. He apologised straight afterwards, you know, when we had a holiday.
“I was at home and I didn’t even realise what was going on. He just sent me a long text message that you could feel was coming from his heart. Afterwards, when he came back to the training ground for pre-season, he just like felt really sorry and almost like cried when he apologised publicly and also personally as well. It felt like he feels really sorry.”
Bentancur denied the FA charge but an independent regulatory commission found him guilty and decided the punishment following a hearing.
The Uruguay international will miss Tottenham’s upcoming Premier League games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool and their Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United in December. He will still be available to play for them in the Europa League.
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(Julian Finney/Getty Images)