Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was suspended for seven matches by the English Football Association (FA) on Monday, November 18, for comments deemed racist towards his South Korean teammate Son Heung-min, made during a television interview .
The FA, which initiated proceedings against the Uruguayan international after an interview given on television in his country in June, also fined him 100,000 pounds (nearly 120,000 euros).
During the show Por la camiseta, the presenter asked him for Son’s jersey, to which Bentancur replied: “Sonny’s jersey? It could be his cousin’s, since they (meaning Asians) all look the same.”
“He apologized as soon as he returned from vacation”declared his teammate Son at the end of September. “I was at home. I didn’t even realize what was happening. He sent me a long message, and you could feel it coming from the bottom of his heart.”
“Gross misconduct”
Despite the apologies presented by the 27-year-old Uruguayan player, the FA, considering that the facts constituted an “gross misconduct, because (the comment) explicitly or implicitly referred to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin”had asked an independent committee of the disciplinary commission to rule on this matter.
Bentancur will therefore not play Tottenham’s next seven domestic matches (Premier League and League Cup) and will only be able to return from December 26. On the other hand, he will be able to play matches in the Europa League, which is an international competition.
Belgium
