Tottenham appeal Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match ban for racial slur

The statements that Rodrigo Bentancur made in a television interview during the summer, which included a racial insult directed at the captain Heung-min Son, resulted in his receiving a seven-match suspension and a fine of one hundred thousand pounds.

The duration of the seven-match suspension that Rodrigo Bentancur was given by Tottenham after the midfielder was found guilty of using a racist insult against the team’s captain, Heung-min Son, has been challenged by Tottenham.

Spurs have placed an appeal with the Football Association, which has also opted to impose a punishment of £100,000 on Bentancur, a Uruguayan midfielder, in the hope that the suspension would be lowered slightly. However, the organisation has acknowledged the accusation that was made against the player.

There is a minimum punishment of six games for the use of discriminatory language, as stated in the standards provided by the Football Association. It is not clear if Spurs have claimed that the suspension should be halted until the appeal is heard, which would allow Bentancur to play against Manchester City that is scheduled to take place this next weekend.

Bentancur, who denied the complaint, contended that his insult was a “sarcastic” and “gentle rebuke” to a TV reporter who referred to the Tottenham captain Son as “the Korean.” However, an independent FA committee found him guilty of an aggravated infringement of their misconduct regulations. Bentancur’s argument was rejected.

Rafa Cotelo, a journalist, was to Bentancur’s residence as part of a filming session in the month of June. During the session, the reporter enquired about “the Korean’s shirt.” In response, Bentancur asked, “Sonny? Perhaps one of Sonny’s relatives, given that they all have a similar appearance to one another.

And the written judgement, which was issued on Monday morning, concluded that Spurs had given a response to the commission in which they argued that Bentancur’s comment was intended to be a “jocular generalisation… which did not cross the line into misconduct.” This was determined to be the case.

A statement made by Tottenham stated that Rodrigo’s response was sarcastic and a friendly reproach for the journalist who referred to Sonny as “the Korean.” The notion that all Koreans “look more or less the same” is not something that Rodrigo believes in.

According to the context of the conversation, it is quite evident that Rodrigo is being sarcastic. In his description of Sonny, Mr. Cotelo referred to him as “the Korean.” As the interview progressed, it became quite clear that Mr. Cotelo was referring to Sonny as “the Korean,” and Rodrigo was posing a challenge to the journalist in his description of his club team-mate.

But that defence was not accepted by the commission, and as a result, Bentancur was given a severe punishment. This means that, depending on the success of the appeal, he will be unable to play in matches against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton, Manchester United (in the Carabao Cup), and Liverpool.

However, Bentancur will be permitted to continue playing in the Europa League under the current circumstances. On the 28th of November, Ange Postecoglou’s squad will play host to Roma, and in the middle of December, they will travel to Glasgow to play Rangers.

Bentancur’s apology was accepted by Son, according to a statement made by Son in September. His name is Rodrigo, and I adore him. We have a lot of happy memories to share. As soon as he realised, he immediately expressed his regret. It wasn’t even clear to me what was going on right then. Son stated, “He made sure to send me a lengthy message, and you could tell that it came straight from the heart.”

When we returned for the preseason, he was overcome with emotion and came dangerously close to crying. It was both publicly and privately that he expressed his regret. He had a deep sense of regret. As a result of his error, we are able to gain knowledge. I have absolutely no issues with him at all. Moving forward, we do so as a brother, a friend, and a member of the same team.