Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association for comments he made about Tottenham team-mate Son Heung-min.
Bentancur was a guest on Uruguayan TV show Pro La Camiseta in June when host Rafa Cotelo asked for a Spurs player’s shirt. Bentancur replied by saying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
South Korea international Son, who is Spurs captain, said he had spoken to Bentancur at the time, writing on Instagram: “He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised. Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.
“We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one.”
Spurs also released a statement in which they said they supported the fact “our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident.”
However, the FA today announced Bentancur had been charged.
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) September 12, 2024
It said: “Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.
“It’s alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has 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’s 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 has until Thursday 19 September 2-24 to provide a response to this charge.”
