Rodrigo Bentancur: Seven match ban and six-figure fine confirmed by FA
The Football Association have confirmed how many matches Rodrigo Bentancur will be suspended for and how much money the midfielder will be fined after breaching their rules.
What did Rodrigo Bentancur do?
Most Spurs fans will be aware of the controversy surrounding Rodrigo Bentancur‘s distasteful joke about Heung-min Son when asked for a shirt of a Tottenham player during a TV interview in Uruguay back in the summer.
In the media interview in question, the midfielder was asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt to which Bentancur replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
The 27-year-old apologised both privately and publicly about his statement, referring to it as a “bad joke” and his apology was accepted by Son.
However, the FA have now confirmed that the Tottenham man has been found guilty of a breach of their rules.
Son said he and Bentancur remained “brothers” and “nothing had changed” after the Uruguayan immediately apologised to him, admitting his mistake.
FA confirm Bentancur punishment
The FA have now announced that an independent regulatory commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and a £100,000 fine on Bentancur after his comments were found to have breached the FA’s Rule E3.1
The rule pertains to players “acting in an improper manner and/or using abusive and/or insulting words and/or bringing the game into disrepute”, with the Tottenham man’s words constituting an “aggravated breach” since words included “a reference to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin”.
The FA revealed that Bentancur had initially denied this charge but the regulatory commission found that the midfielder had indeed breached the rules.
An FA spokesperson said: “An independent regulatory commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.
“It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder 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 was 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 denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing.”
The Tottenham games which Bentancur is suspended for
Bentancur’s ban will only apply to domestic fixtures, which means that the Uruguayan would still be eligible to play in the Europa League matches against AS Roma and Rangers.
Here are the seven games that the former Juventus man will now miss:
- Manchester City (A), Premier League, November 23
- Fulham (H), Premier League, December 1
- Bournemouth (A), Premier League, December 5
- Chelsea (H), Premier League, December 8
- Southampton (A), Premier League, December 15
- Manchester United (H), Carabao Cup, December 19
- Liverpool (H), Premier League, December 22
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