Tottenham midfielder charged by FA over Son racial slur

Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association (FA) for making a racial slur about his teammate, Son Heung-min.

During an appearance on Uruguayan TV in June, Bentancur was asked by a presenter if he could provide a Tottenham shirt. He responded, “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

Bentancur later apologized on Instagram, describing his remarks as a “very bad joke.”

The FA announced that the 27-year-old Uruguay international has been charged with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct related to the media interview.

“It’s alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought into disrepute,” said a statement from English football’s governing body.

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”.

In terms of a length of ban, FA laws say, “match-based sanctions of 6-12 games will be recommended to regulatory commissions for almost all acts of discrimination by individual participants”.

Bentancur has until Thursday, 19 September to respond to the charge.

At the time, anti-discrimination charity Kick it Out said it had received a “significant number” of complaints about Bentancur’s racial slur, which highlighted “a wider issue that heavily affects East Asian and wider communities”.

Son said Bentancur had apologised to him for using a racial slur and the pair have since joined up at Spurs for the Premier League season.

“I’ve spoken to Lolo,” said Son in June. “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.”