Heavy sanction for Rodrigo Bentancur. For having made racist remarks against his teammate Heung-Min Son, the Tottenham midfielder was punished with 7 matches and a fine of 120,000 euros by an independent regulatory commission convened by the English federation.
“It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 by acting inappropriately (…). It was further alleged that this was an “aggravated offence”, defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – express or implied – to nationality, race or ethnic origin,” explains the body in its press release.
During an interview given to the Uruguayan program “por la camiseta” on the Canal 10 channel last June, the Tottenham midfielder completely slipped up on the subject of the South Korean. While the journalist who interviewed him asked him to collect the jersey of the star Spurs striker, the Uruguayan said: “His? Or any of Sonny's cousins, they all look more or less the same! “.
The player who played for Juventus immediately apologized to Heung-min Son, recognizing “a very bad joke”. Apologies probably accepted by the main party who quickly defused the controversy by defending his teammate on social networks.
“He made a mistake, he knows it and has apologized. He would never intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all. We have overcome this ordeal, we are united and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one man,” he commented.
Comments which did not prevent the initiation of disciplinary action against the Uruguayan international, who will therefore remain away from English fields until Boxing Day and a match against Wolverhampton on December 29. He will still be able to play Europa League matches with his club.
