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Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was banned for seven matches on Monday for making an offensive comment about South Koreans in relation to a remark about Tottenham teammate Son Heung-min.
The English Football Association said in a statement that an independent commission also imposed a £100,000 ($126,000) fine on the player. The sanction can be appealed.
The suspension only covers domestic matches, meaning that the 27-year-old Bentancur will be available to play for his London club in the Europa League. Spurs take on Roma in the league phase of the tournament on Nov. 28.
Appearing on a Uruguayan television show in June, Bentancur was asked for a Tottenham player’s jersey and replied, “Sonny’s?” He added it could be Son’s cousin, too, because “more or less they are all the same.”
Bentancur later apologised to Son on Instagram, saying it was a “very bad joke” and he would “never disrespect you or hurt you.”
Son accepted the excuses, saying that his teammate had made a mistake and “would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive.”
“We are brothers and nothing has changed at all,” Son said in June. "We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one.”
Bentancur was charged by the English FA in September because he was alleged to have “acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute.”
The FA said it constituted an aggravated breach because it included “reference to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”
The FA also ordered Bentancur to attend a “face-to-face education program”, details of which will be provided later. The course should be completed by March 11 next year.
“If the player fails to complete the program satisfactorily in that period, he will be immediately suspended from all domestic club football until such time as the mandatory program is completed,” the FA said.
Tottenham and Bentancur did not immediately react to the punishment.
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6 Comments
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Mr Kipling
In the new woke world there is no concept of context.
Legrande
Nah his comment was in bad taste and btw the context is no shortage of racial slurs shouted at players by hooligan fans so for a player to play up to that is disgraceful
wallace
Say No To Racism.
Jimizo
Idiot. Deserves the ban.
kohakuebisu
This ban is excessive. He would have got a three match ban for punching Son in the face during a match. All he did was say something that he's since taken back. Son has accepted his apology. As racism goes, "they all look the same" is low level. It is ignorance more than hate.
All sorts of people have all sorts of prejudices about all sorts of things. It is not exceptional to have them. The important thing is to engage people and encourage them to change their thinking. Not to several punish or cancel people. Had Bentancour been on international duty, many players were during the last week or so, the punishment would have been decided by his national association. That's why all the Argentian players got away with much worse racism directed at black members of the French team. Many high profile cases of racism in football involve South Americans, which suggests to me that more education is required, not stricter punishments.
Jimizo
I read one opinion that this is a difference between what’s deemed as acceptable in different cultures. I remember Luis Suarez claiming something similar regarding a word he used.
Still, he plays in England. The authorities are strict on this kind of thing. Understandable given the past of racist trash in English football.
No other choice but to act here.