Tottenham’s Bentancur Faces Lengthy Ban Over Alleged Racist Remarks About Teammate

Tottenham midfielder, Rodrigo Bentancur, has discussed the lengthy seven-game ban he is expected to receive from the Football Association after the comments he made on teammate Son Heung-Min.

Bentancur was asked for a Tottenham shirt belonging to Son by a reporter and replied, “Sonny’s or a cousin of Sonny’s? They all look the same, more or less,” which was seen as a racist comment by the FA, which he has since apologized for.

Despite his apology, the FA is poised to impose a seven-game ban on him, which could have increased to 12 games had they deemed his comments to be more serious.

Now the Spurs star has spoken to ESPN Deportes on the incident.

“My agent called me and said that he had been notified that this was the sanction. So far, the club hasn’t contacted me.

“I already knew more or less where the hand was going. Now the sanction is out. I want to be calm here in the national team, and then we’ll see when it’s time for me to go back there.”

The FA charged Bentancur with using abusive language and behaving in a way that brought the game into disrepute, stating that it constituted an aggravated breach due to alleged references to nationality, race, or ethnic origin.

Tottenham is understood to have questioned the FA’s jurisdiction to charge Bentancur as the comments were made when the player was on international duty, but following a private hearing by an independent commission, the club is now resigned to a guilty verdict.

The FA increased the minimum sanction for the use of racist language to six matches in 2019, with Tottenham fearful that Bentancur could get a longer ban.

Tottenham’s next six Premier League games are against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Southampton, and Liverpool, while they also have a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United next month.

A lengthy ban would be a major blow for manager Ange Postecoglou, as Bentancur has played in 10 of Tottenham’s 11 Premier League games so far this season.

The Uruguay international has insisted the relationship between him and the Tottenham captain has not been damaged by the incident.