Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been handed a seven-match home ban by the Soccer Affiliation (FA) for making a racist remark about teammate Son Heung-min throughout a tv interview. The ban additionally features a £100,000 wonderful and obligatory academic program.
The FA charged Bentancur in September following feedback made throughout a June tv interview in Uruguay. Whereas Bentancur denied the cost, an unbiased regulatory fee discovered the proof adequate to impose sanctions. The assertion from the FA detailed the fees and the next sanctions, emphasizing the severity of the offense.
The seven-match ban will hold Bentancur out of home motion till December twenty sixth. This contains a number of key Premier League fixtures towards Manchester Metropolis, Liverpool, and Chelsea, in addition to Tottenham’s League Cup quarter-final towards Manchester United. He’ll, nevertheless, stay eligible for Tottenham’s Europa League matches.
The context of Bentancur’s remarks
The FA’s cost specified an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct in a media interview, citing the remark as an “aggravated breach” attributable to its racial implications. When requested for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur reportedly stated, “Sonny’s? It could possibly be Sonny’s cousin too as all of them look the identical,” referring to Son Heung-min.
Bentancur’s protection, submitted by Tottenham, argued that his remark was sarcastic and meant as a rebuke of the journalist’s description of Son as “the Korean.”
They claimed the apology was for the misrepresentation of the interview, not for the remark itself. Nevertheless, the unbiased regulatory fee rejected this protection, stating that the remark was “clearly abusive and insulting,” and that the apology confirmed an acceptance of inflicting offense.
The panel’s reasoning and the sanction
The panel thought of Bentancur’s lack of prior offenses and his real regret when figuring out the sanction. Whereas acknowledging the mitigating circumstances, they concluded that the severity of the offense warranted a ban in direction of the decrease finish, however not the bottom level, of the rule vary for any such misconduct.
The seven-match ban displays the seriousness of the incident, highlighting the FA’s dedication to addressing racism inside the sport. The obligatory academic program is designed to additional emphasize the significance of respectful language.
The Bentancur case differs from that of Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, whose alleged racist chant was made throughout worldwide responsibility and is at the moment below investigation by FIFA. Bentancur’s feedback, having been made in his private time whereas in England, fell below the jurisdiction of the FA.
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