The Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancurteammate of the Argentine Cristian Leaves Romero in it Tottenham Hotspurreceived a seven-game suspensionplus one financial fine of 100,000 pounds (120,000 euros), for a racist comment about his partner Heung-min Son. In an interview granted a couple of months ago, the journalist asked Bentancur to give him a shirt of his South Korean teammate, to which the footballer responded: “¿Sonny?”.
The interviewer replied “Or any other champion?” and the Uruguayan responded: “Or any of Sonny’s cousins, they all look a lot alike”.
This represents a violation of FA regulations by including a reference to another person’s nationality, race, or ethnicity.
Bentancur apologized at the time for the controversy that the situation generated and which was criticized by anti-racism organizations in England such as “Kick it Out”.
“I would like to write to all the fans about the interview in which I spoke about Son. I have spoken with him and, logically, given our friendship, he understands that it was an unfortunate misunderstanding. Everything has been clarified and resolved with my friend. If anyone felt offended by my words, I would like to give my most sincere apologies, but I would also like to say that I have never referred to anyone else, only Son, and for that reason I have never had the intention of offending anyone, directly or indirectly.”said the Uruguayan on his social networks.
Son himself confirmed that he spoke with Bentancur and that he knows that “made a mistake” and he apologized for it. “I didn’t intentionally mean to say anything offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed.”completed the South Korean.
According to the English federation, Bentancur rejected the accusationbut an independent commission determined his guilt for being a “serious gap” by including references to a partner’s nationality or ethnicity.
The FA has very strict rules regarding these comments and has already sanctioned in the past Edinson Cavani for calling a friend “black” in an Instagram post and Bernardo Silva for comparing Benjamin Mendy to a achieved.
The Uruguayan received a three-game suspension and a fine of 100,000 pounds, in addition to having to complete a re-education course, while the Portuguese missed a game and had to pay 50,000 pounds.
However, the Argentine Alejandro Garnacho He received no sanction last season after using a gorilla emoji next to a photo of his teammate André Onaná in a social media post.