Rodrigo Bentancur: Spurs star banned for seven matches after using racial slur about teammate Son Heung-min - what did he say?
Tottenham midfield Rodrigo Bentancur has been handed a seven match ban by the FA after he used a racial slur about his Spurs teammate Son Heung-min.
The Uruguayan footballer, 27, made the comments while appearing on a television show in his home country in June. As a result, the FA has slapped him with a £100,000 fine and banned him from being selected for Spurs’ next seven matches.
This means that Bentancur will miss key showdowns, including the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United as well as Spurs’ trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City in their next Premier League match. The ban only covers domestic matches however, with Bentancur still available for the club’s upcoming Europa League matches against AS Roma and Rangers.
An FA spokesperson said: “An independent regulatory commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview. It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute.
“It was further alleged that this constitutes an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin. Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing.”
What did Bentancur say about Son Heung-min?
Bentancur cause controversy with his appearance on the ‘Por La Camiseta’ show in Uruguay in June. The host of the show, Rafa Cotelo, asked the footballer for a shirt of his teammates.
In response, Bentancur asked “Sonny’s?”, in reference to his South-Korean teammate Son, before adding: "It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."
Son spoke about the incident on social media a few days after the interview aired. He told supporters: "He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised. Lolo [Bentancur] would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all. We're past this, we're united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one."