Tottenham have appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game domestic ban for a racist slur made about team-mate Son Heung-min, saying the Football Association punishment is “severe”.
Spurs say they accept the guilty finding by an independent regulatory commission, which also fined the player £100,000 and ordered him to take part in a mandatory face-to-face education programme.
It came after he was charged by the FA in September for comments made while appearing on TV in his home country of Uruguay in June.
Bentancur, who denied the charge, is currently suspended from domestic matches until 26 December.
He will miss Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea among others, plus Spurs’ League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United, but is available for Spur’s Europa League matches.
The Uruguay midfielder will remain suspended domestically while the appeal is heard.
When charging the Uruguay international the FA said it was “an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview”.
The FA said this constituted an “aggravated breach as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin”.
The commission said such a breach “requires an immediate suspension of 6-12 matches”.
In the media interview in question, asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
He later apologised on social media and said his comments were a “very bad joke”.
Bentancur also said sorry to South Korea forward Son, who said he would “not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive”.
Spurs said in a statement: “We can confirm that the club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s FA suspension, issued earlier this week.
“While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe.”
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