Last summer, Rodrigo Bentancur caused an uproar with a racist comment about teammate Heung-Min Son. Months later, the FA has now handed down a hefty seven-game ban. Son had long since forgiven the Uruguayan.
During the summer break, Rodrigo Bentancur had caused a great deal of anger with a racist comment directed at his teammate Heung-Min Son. Back home, Bentancur responded to a question from the presenter about a Tottenham shirt in a TV interview: “Sonnys? It could also be Sonny’s cousin, they all look the same.”
At the end of September, the South Korean had spoken in detail about the incident at a press conference: “I love Rodrigo. We have many good memories together. He apologized directly while we were on vacation. I was at home and hadn’t even realized what was going on.”
A “very long text message, from which you could tell it came from the heart,” was followed by a personal and a public apology. “He almost cried,” Son reported on their return to the training ground at the start of preparations. Son forgave Bentancur and confirmed that she had “no problem at all” with the Uruguayan international.
Violation of the rules “particularly serious” – Waiting until “Boxing Day”
The FA, however, did not want to leave the matter at that and on Monday imposed a hefty seven-match ban for all national competitions. Bentancur must also pay a fine of 100,000 pounds (about 120,000 euros). The talk is of a violation of the FA rule E3.1 to an especially “serious extent” because it “contained explicit or implicit reference to nationality and/or ethnicity and/or ethnic origin.”
Bentancur denied this accusation according to the FA, but the independent rules commission considered it proven and, after a hearing, imposed the drastic sanctions.
This means that Bentancur is banned from playing in English competitions until Boxing Day, when Spurs face Nottingham Forest. He will be unable to play in the league matches against Manchester City (A), Fulham (H), Bournemouth (A), Chelsea (H), Southampton (A) and Liverpool (H) and in the League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United (H).
Theoretically, Bentancur can only gain match practice in the Europa League, with Tottenham hosting Roma at home on November 28 and then playing the Glasgow Rangers on December 12.