Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was sanctioned by the English Football Federation (FA) with a seven-match suspension for a “racist” comment about his teammate Son Heung-min.
Bentancur, who was also fined £100,000 (about US$127,000 ) and was ordered to participate in a mandatory education program in person, he was charged by the FA in September for some words he offered during a television appearance in his native country, Uruguay, in June.
“Rodrigo Bentancur denied this accusation, but the independent regulatory commission considered it proven and imposed its sanctions after a hearing,” says a statement from the FA.
The 27-year-old will not return to the English league until December 26meaning he will miss matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, among others, as well as his team’s League Cup quarter-final match against Manchester United.
Yes, he will be available for Tottenham’s Europa League matches.
Bentancur has made 15 appearances for Tottenham this season and scored his first goal of the season in the loss to Ipswich on 11 November.
Betancur’s comments occurred in his free time and therefore, as he plays in England, they fell under the jurisdiction of the FA, unlike the situation in which Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez found himself involved.
Fernández was traveling with the Argentine team when he published a video in which, according to the French Football Federation (FFF), “racist and discriminatory” chants could be heard while his team celebrated winning the Copa América. The player is being investigated by FIFA.
What did Bentancur say?
When accusing the Uruguayan player, the English federation noted that it was “an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.”
The FA said this constituted an “aggravated offence… as it included a reference, express or implied, to nationality, race and/or ethnic origin”.
In the interview in question, a presenter asked him about a Tottenham shirt, to which Bentancur responded: “Sonny’s? Or a cousin of Sonny’s. Overall, they are all more or less the same.”
Bentancur later apologized on social media and said his comments had been a “very bad joke”. He also apologized to the South Korean striker, who assured that Bentancur “never wanted to say anything intentionally offensive.”
What was Bentancur’s defense and what did the court say?
The FA said the player “requested that the matter be dealt with solely on the basis of written communications”.
A response to the accusation sent by Tottenham on Bentancur’s behalf said the player’s words “were sarcastic.” and a gentle rebuke for the journalist who called Sonny ‘the Korean’“.
“Rodrigo does not believe that all Koreans ‘are more or less the same.’ “The context of the exchange clearly shows that Rodrigo is being sarcastic… Rodrigo was challenging the journalist in his description of his clubmate.”
It was also alleged that Bentancur’s apology “was not for what he said, but for inadequate coverage of the interview, which excluded” the host’s reference to Son as “the Korean.”
However, the court concluded that “Bentancur’s conduct in using the words he used, in the context in which they were used, was clearly abusive and insultingand would constitute misconduct.”
The apologies made by the player appear to demonstrate that he accepted having caused offence, and a statement from his team in response to his apology “appears to have accepted that the player’s comments were objectively insulting, abusive and/or discriminatory.”
The organization said that it could not accept the argument of Bentancur’s defense, since “contradicts the evidence” and “does not conform to the content or form of the player’s apology or the response of the club or Son Heung-min.”
In determining the sanction, the independent regulatory commission took into account that Bentancur had no criminal record, did not intend to offend and “despite the allegations presented on his behalf before us, which tended to undermine the force of that early apology, we consider that his remorse was and is genuine.”
And they added: “We consider that, in terms of culpability and consequences, this infraction is towards the lower end of the range of possible sanctions (ranging from 6 to 12 games), but not at the lowest point.”
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