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Tottenham have appealed against the length of ban imposed on midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur for comments he made about team-mate Son Heung-min.
The Football Association announced on Monday that the 27-year-old Uruguay international would serve a seven-match domestic suspension, covering six Premier League fixtures and a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.
Bentancur was charged with misconduct in September over a television interview he gave in his home country in June, with the reference to Son’s race making it an aggravated breach.
The club released a statement on Wednesday afternoon confirming their intention to appeal.
“While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe,” the statement read.
“Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard and the club will make no further comment during this time.”
The standard minimum ban where such a breach is established is six matches, so Spurs may be looking to get a one-match reduction in the suspension.
Bentancur was asked during an interview to show the shirt of a Spurs player, and replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
Lolo (Bentancur) would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed
Son Heung-min on Rodrigo Bentancur
Bentancur apologised on Instagram to Son for his remarks, and Son accepted that apology in a statement on the same platform.
“I’ve spoken with Lolo (Bentancur). He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” the South Korea captain said.
“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.”
Bentancur was also fined £100,000.
The panel gave the following explanation for issuing a seven-game ban: “We consider that, in terms of culpability and consequences, this breach falls towards the lower end of the guideline range but not the lowest point.
“Cases can easily be envisaged which are less serious than this, but nevertheless subject to the minimum suspension of six matches.”
The panel said it should have been “reasonably foreseeable” to Bentancur that the remarks would be widely distributed via social media, but took into account as mitigation his sincere apology and his previous clean disciplinary record.
