The dreaded sanction has officially arrived. Rodrigo Bentancuraccused by the English Football Association of having made racist insults towards his teammate Son Heung-minwas suspended for 7 matches and sentenced to pay a fine of 100,000 pounds.
“Rodrigo Bentancur denied this allegation, but the independent regulatory commission found it proven and imposed sanctions on him after a hearing,” the FA said in a statement. The 27-year-old will not return to league action until December 26, missing Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, as well as Spurs’ League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United. He will instead be available for the Europa League matches against Roma and Rangers.
What happened – During an interview with a Uruguayan TV last June, the former Juventus player said ironically: “Sonny? He could also be his cousin, since they all look the same.” A joke which immediately triggered disciplinary proceedings by the Federation, closed today: “The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA rule E3.1 by acting inappropriately and/or using offensive and/or insulting words and/or bringing the game into disrepute. It is further argued that this constitutes an ‘aggravated offence’ as defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference, express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin,” he said the FA when it opened the file.
Bentancur publicly apologized to his locker room mate but it wasn’t enough.