Tottenham Challenges Bentancur’s ‘Severe’ Ban

Rodrigo Bentancur joined Tottenham from Juventus in 2022. Tottenham has lodged an appeal concerning the duration of the seven-game domestic suspension imposed on Rodrigo Bentancur, following a racist remark directed at his team-mate Son Heung-min. The club described the Football Association’s penalty as “severe.” Spurs stated their acceptance of the guilty verdict delivered by an independent regulatory commission, which additionally imposed a £100,000 fine on the player and mandated his participation in a face-to-face education program. This action followed his charge by the FA in September, related to remarks he made during a television appearance in his native Uruguay in June. Bentancur, who had denied the accusation, is presently barred from domestic competitions until 26 December. He is set to miss Premier League fixtures against teams including Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea, as well as Tottenham’s Carabao Cup quarter-final match versus Manchester United. However, he remains eligible for Europa League games. The midfielder from Uruguay will maintain his domestic suspension pending the outcome of the appeal hearing. Upon charging the Uruguay international, the FA specified that it constituted “an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.” The FA further stated that this represented an “aggravated breach as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.” According to the commission, such a violation “requires an immediate suspension of 6-12 matches.” During the relevant media interview, when a presenter requested a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur responded: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.” He subsequently issued an apology on social media, characterizing his remarks as a “very bad joke.” Bentancur also extended an apology to South Korea forward Son, who stated that he would “not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive.” In a statement, Spurs declared: “We can confirm that the club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s FA suspension, issued earlier this week.” The statement continued: “While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe.” A reply to the charge, submitted by Tottenham on Bentancur’s behalf, asserted: “Rodrigo’s reply was sarcastic and a gentle rebuke for the journalist calling Sonny ‘the Korean’.” It further stated: “Rodrigo does not believe that all Koreans ‘look more or less the same’. The context of the exchange clearly shows Rodrigo is being sarcastic. Rodrigo was challenging the journalist in his description of his club team-mate.” It was additionally put forward that Bentancur’s apology for his comments was “not for what he said, but for the inadequate reporting on the interview which excluded” the presenter’s reference to Son as “the Korean.” Nevertheless, the panel determined that Bentancur’s “conduct in using the words he did, in the full context in which they were used, was clearly abusive and insulting, and would amount to misconduct.” They observed that his apologies seemed to indicate an acceptance of having caused offense, and a statement from Spurs, external, issued in response to his apologies, “appears to have accepted that the player’s remarks had been objectively insulting and/or abusive and discriminatory.” The panel stated that Bentancur’s submission could not be accepted because it “flies in the face of the evidence” and “does not sit with the content or form of the player’s apologies or the response of THFC or Son Heung-min.” When deciding on the sanction, the independent regulatory commission considered that Bentancur had no prior offenses, did not intend to cause offense, and, “despite the submissions made on his behalf before us which tended to undermine the force of that early apology, we consider his remorse was and is genuine.” It further noted: “In all the circumstances, we consider that, in terms of culpability and consequences, this breach falls towards the lower end of the guideline range but not the lowest point.” The FA established a revised charging policy concerning discrimination in August 2020. These new penalties were implemented at the commencement of the 2020-21 season, following discussions with the anti-racism organization Kick It Out, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the League Managers’ Association (LMA), and representatives from various clubs and leagues. The policy stipulated that discriminatory incidents, whether occurring within or outside a football environment, would not prevent the FA from imposing sanctions. Match-based suspensions ranging from six to 12 games are recommended in nearly all instances by a regulatory commission. Subsequently, “aggravating” or “mitigating” factors determine whether the ban falls towards the lower end (around six games) or the higher end (up to 12 games). Additionally, in situations where the incident is “in writing only or via any communication device” and another specific mitigating factor is present, the suspension could be reduced to fewer than six matches. A minimum sanction of three games is deemed to be in the best interests of “anti-discrimination in football.” This policy aims to prevent the arbitrary decision-making process that proved contentious in past FA punishments, such as the eight-match ban received by Luis Suarez in 2011 after an incident involving Patrice Evra.