“Aggravated violation”
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A flippant comment from Rodrigo Bentancur during the Copa América last summer earned the Tottenham professional a long ban. The Spurs midfielder was taken out of action for seven games by the English Football Association (FA), as initially reported by Sky Sports and the BBC. In addition, the 27-year-old was fined 100,000 pounds – the equivalent of almost 120,000 euros.
The ban applies at the national level. This means Bentancur will miss Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea as well as the League Cup quarter-finals against Manchester United. Bentancur will be available to his club for the upcoming matches in the Europa League against AS Roma and Glasgow Rangers, unless UEFA also issues a ban. Nothing has yet been announced about possible investigations by the European association. The Uruguayan will not be able to return to action in the English upper house until December 26th.
Bentancur was charged Sept. 12 with alleged misconduct related to a June media interview. This constitutes an “aggravated violation (…) because it contains an explicit or implicit reference to nationality and/or ethnicity and/or ethnic origin”. An FA statement added: “Rodrigo Bentancur denied the allegations, but the Independent Regulatory Commission found them proven and, after a hearing, imposed the sanctions.”
In the TV program “Por La Camiseta”, the defensive midfielder was asked whether he could get the journalist a jersey from Spurs captain Heung-min Son (32). Bentancur said, “From Sonny? Or from Sonny’s cousin, they all look more or less the same.” What Bentancur himself described as a bad joke was also perceived as not very funny in South America. The English Football Association viewed the statement even more seriously.
Bentancur apologized to his Tottenham colleague Son
“Sonny, brother! I’m sorry about what happened, it was a tasteless joke. You know that I love you and would never disrespect or hurt you, you or anyone. I love you, brother!” Son accepted Bentancur’s apology, who, according to consistent media reports, was found guilty of an “aggravated violation.” Son commented on the “case” at the end of September, while no verdict had yet been made: “He apologized immediately afterwards when we were on holiday. I was at home and didn’t even know what was going on. He sent me a long message and you could feel it came from his heart. When we went to the training camp, he was really very depressed and he was almost crying.” Almost 80 percent of the voting readers at TM believe a suspension of at least six games is excessive (as of November 18th, 12:35 p.m.).
This ban comes at an inopportune time for the stumbling Spurs, who only occupy 10th place in the Premier League with the sixth most valuable squad. Bentancur, who plays in defensive midfield, would miss the league against Manchester City and Chelsea, among others, and miss the quarter-finals against Manchester United in the EFL Cup. Provided that the FA’s minimum penalty for racist comments is six games. Since 2019, this ban has been the minimum for allusions to nationality, race or ethnic origin.
Since his 19 million euro transfer from Juventus Turin to Spurs in the summer of 2022, Bentancur and Son have appeared on the pitch together 68 times. Tottenham are said to have tried to appeal the proceedings because the incident occurred during an international match, but the club have now accepted the guilty verdict. In addition to Bentancur, coach Ange Postecoglou can rely on Yves Bissouma (28), Pape Matar Sarr (22) and Lucas Bergvall (18) for the midfield center.
