The Uruguayan midfielder of Tottenham Rodrigo Bentancur He was accused on Thursday by the English Federation (FA) of misconduct towards his South Korean teammate Son Heung-minfor a joke that was considered racist.
In an interview last June with Uruguayan network Canal 10, the journalist asked Bentancur if he could get him one of his teammate’s shirts. “Sonny’s? Or Sonny’s cousin, they’re all more or less the same,” the footballer replied.
Kick It Out, an organisation that fights racism in football, said it had received “a significant number” of complaints about the comment.
Bentancur was quick to apologise to his Spurs captain, admitting he had “made a mistake”.
Son himself said in a message on Instagram that he had spoken with his teammate and that “he knows he made a mistake and has apologized.”
However, after a few months, the FA considered that the Uruguayan violated rule E3.1, since he acted “inappropriately and/or used abusive and/or insulting words (…) in reference to nationality and/or race and/or ethnicity.”
Bentancur has until September 19 to present arguments in his defense.
His compatriot Edinson Cavaniwhen he was a Manchester United player, was sanctioned in 2020 with three matches and a fine of 130,000 dollars for having called a friend “black” in a message on his social networks
Source: Ambito
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