Tottenham appeal against Bentancur's 'severe' ban

Tottenham have appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-game domestic ban for a racist slur made about team-mate Son Heung-min, saying the Football Association punishment is "severe".

Spurs say they accept the guilty finding by an independent regulatory commission, which also fined the player £100,000 and ordered him to take part in a mandatory face-to-face education programme.

It came after he was charged by the FA in September for comments made while appearing on TV in his home country of Uruguay in June.

Bentancur, who denied the charge, is currently suspended from domestic matches until 26 December.

He will miss Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea among others, plus Tottenham's Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United, but is available for Europa League matches.

The Uruguay midfielder will remain suspended domestically while the appeal is heard.

When charging the Uruguay international the FA said it was "an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview".

The FA said this constituted an "aggravated breach as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin".

The commission said such a breach "requires an immediate suspension of 6-12 matches".

In the media interview in question, asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

He later apologised on social media and said his comments were a "very bad joke".

Bentancur also said sorry to South Korea forward Son, who said he would "not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive".

Spurs said in a statement: "We can confirm that the club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur's FA suspension, issued earlier this week.

"While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe."

A response to the charge sent by Tottenham on behalf of Bentancur said: "Rodrigo's reply was sarcastic and a gentle rebuke for the journalist calling Sonny 'the Korean'.

"Rodrigo does not believe that all Koreans 'look more or less the same'. The context of the exchange clearly shows Rodrigo is being sarcastic. Rodrigo was challenging the journalist in his description of his club team-mate."

It was also submitted that Bentancur's apology for his comments was "not for what he said, but for the inadequate reporting on the interview which excluded" the presenter's reference to Son as "the Korean".

However, the panel concluded Bentancur's "conduct in using the words he did, in the full context in which they were used, was clearly abusive and insulting, and would amount to misconduct".

They found that the apologies made by him appear to show he accepted he had caused offence and a statement from Spurs, external in response to his apologies, "appears to have accepted that the player's remarks had been objectively insulting and/or abusive and discriminatory".

The panel said they could not accept the submission of Bentancur as it "flies in the face of the evidence" and "does not sit with the content or form of the player’s apologies or the response of THFC or Son Heung-min".

In determining the sanction, the independent regulatory commission took into account Bentancur had no previous offences, did not mean to cause offence and, "despite the submissions made on his behalf before us which tended to undermine the force of that early apology, we consider his remorse was and is genuine".

It added: "In all the circumstances, we consider that, in terms of culpability and consequences, this breach falls towards the lower end of the guideline range but not the lowest point."

The FA set a new charging policy in relation to discrimination in August 2020.

The new sanctions began at the start of the 2020-21 season, following consultation with the anti-racism charity Kick It Out, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), the League Managers' Association (LMA) and representatives from clubs and leagues.

It stated that incidents of discrimination inside or outside a football setting will not be a barrier to the FA issuing punishment, with match-based sanctions of six to 12 games being recommended in almost all cases by a regulatory commission.

"Aggravating" or "mitigating" factors will then dictate whether the ban is at the lower end, towards six or at the higher end of 12 games.

There are also circumstances when the incident is "in writing only or via any communication device" with another specific mitigating factor present, which could reduce the ban to below six matches.

A minimum sanction of three games is considered in the best interests for "anti-discrimination in football".

The policy avoids an arbitrary decision process as proved controversial when the FA punished players in the past, including Luis Suarez in 2011 after he received an eight-match ban following an incident involving Patrice Evra.