Rodrigo Bentancur charged by FA over Son Heung-min interview comments
- FA charge Rodrigo Bentancur with misconduct
- Midfielder alleged to have made racist comment about Tottenham's Son Heung-min
- Bentancur has until September 19 to respond to charge
By Sean Walsh
The FA have charged Rodrigo Bentancur over comments he made in an interview regarding Tottenham Hotspur teammate Son Heung-min.
Bentancur commented 'they all look the same' when asked to tell the difference between Son and his cousin during a controversial video recorded over the summer.
"Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview," a statement from the FA read.
"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 2024 to provide a response to this charge."
Bentancur is eligible to play for Tottenham before that date and so is available for Sunday's north London derby against Arsenal. Any eventual punishment could range from attending an educational programme to a suspension of up to 12 games.
Son claimed in the aftermath of the incident that Bentancur had apologised for this comment.
"I've spoken with Lolo [Bentancur]. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised," Son said in June.
"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."
A statement from Tottenham at the time read: "Following a comment from Rodrigo Bentancur in an interview video clip and the player’s subsequent public apology, the Club has been providing assistance in ensuring a positive outcome on the matter. This will include further education for all players in line with our diversity, equality and inclusion objectives.
"We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident and that the team can focus on the new season ahead.
"We are extremely proud of our diverse, global fanbase and playing squads. Discrimination of any kind has no place at our club, within our game or within wider society."
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