Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven matches and fined £100,000 by the Football Association (FA) for comments he made about his teammate Son Heung-min.
Bentancur said South Korea international Son and his cousins “all look the same” in the television program Por La Camiseta, which will air in his native Uruguay in June. The 27-year-old later apologized on social media.
Bentancur was charged by the FA in September and accused of acting “in an inappropriate manner and/or using abusive and/or insulting words and/or bringing the game into disrepute.” The FA added in a statement that the allegation further constituted an “aggravated breach” under FA rule E3.2 as it allegedly included references to nationality, race or ethnic origin.”
The Athletics Son asked during a press conference later in September about his response to the charges and his relationship with Bentancur.
“The process is with the FA so I can’t say much about it, but I love Rodrigo,” said Son. “I repeat: I love him, I love him.
“We had a lot of good memories, we started playing together when he came along. He apologized immediately afterwards, when we were on holiday.
“I was at home and didn’t even realize what was going on. He just sent me a long text message that you felt came from his heart. When he returned to the training ground for pre-season afterwards, he felt really sorry and almost cried as he apologized publicly and also personally. It felt like he really felt sorry.”
Bentancur denied the FA’s charges, but an independent regulatory commission found him guilty and decided the sentence after a hearing.
The Uruguayan international will miss Tottenham’s upcoming Premier League matches against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool and their Carabao Cup quarter-final against 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)