Tottenham have appealed against the length of the ban imposed on midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for comments he made about his teammate Son Heung-min. The Football Association announced on Monday that Bentancur would serve a seven-match domestic suspension, covering six Premier League fixtures and a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.
The 27-year-old Uruguay international was charged with misconduct in September after a television interview he gave in his home country in June, with the reference to Son’s race making it an aggravated breach. Bentancur was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player. “Sonny’s?” he replied. “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
Spurs said: “While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe. Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard and the club will make no further comment during this time”.
The standard minimum ban where such a breach is established is six matches, so Spurs may be hoping to get a one-match reduction in the suspension.
Bentancur apologised to Son on Instagram for his remarks and the Spurs captain accepted that apology on the same platform. “I’ve spoken with Lolo [Bentancur]. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” Son said.
“Lolo 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 pre-season to fight for our club as one.”
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Bentancur, whose ban begins with Saturday evening’s trip to Manchester City, was also fined £100,000.