New Delhi, Nov 18 (IANS): Tottenham Hotspur and Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been handed a seven-game ban on counts of racist remarks on South Korean teammate and captain Heung Min Son by the Football Association.
Alongside the ban by the FA, he will also have to pay a 100,000 Pounds fine 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," the FA said in a statement.
"Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons for these decisions can be seen below," it added.
The 27-year-old midfielder will now miss the league games against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton and Liverpool. He will also be banned for the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on December 19. Despite the ban in domestic competitions, Bentancur will be available to play for the club in the Europa League.
While on Uruguayan TV in June, Bentancur had talked about his Spurs club captain Son and made a distasteful joke about how ‘all South Koreans look the same.’Following the incident, Rodrigo had taken to social media and posted a public apology to his captain.
"Sony brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke! You know [that] I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone else! I love you brother!,” read the post.
The Spurs captain also replied to Bentancur’s apology in an interview in June. "I've spoken to Lolo. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised. 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," said Son.