FA charge Rodrigo Bentancur over racial slur on Tottenham Hotspur teammate

Bentancur later apologised after his racist comments on Son.

A complaint has been filed against Rodrigo Bentancur by FA for comments he made in an interview. It was in front of the media and against his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Son Heung-min.

The 27-year-old midfielder appeared to tell Son that all South Koreans “look the same” in an interview with a Uruguayan TV station, for which he later expressed regret.

Bentancur later apologised profusely to Son on social media. However, the FA, since the media day, has accused him of misbehaviour and threatened to ban him.

An FA statement on Thursday morning said, “Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.

“It’s alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has 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’s 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.

“Rodrigo Bentancur has until Thursday 19 September 2024 to provide a response to this charge.”

Bentancur is permitted to play in the interim, but if the charge is upheld in the upcoming weeks, the player will probably face a ban. On Sunday, Tottenham and Arsenal play in the North London derby.

Soon after the incident, Son highlighted that he had talked with Bentancur before adamantly stating that his team-mate would not purposefully say anything disrespectful in a statement released by Spurs.

“I’ve spoken with Lolo. 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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