Spurs take action against Bentancur ban

Tottenham Hotspur have appealed against the long ban of their professional Rodrigo Bentancur. The London football club accepted the guilty verdict, but not the duration of the ban, the Spurs announced. The punishment is too harsh. The Uruguayan professional was banned for seven games at national level by the English FA (FA) for a remark that was classified as racist.

The midfielder will not be available to Spurs in the league again until Christmas if Tottenham’s appeal is not successful. The 27-year-old also has to pay a fine of around 120,000 euros (100,000 pounds).

FA accuses Bentancur of serious misconduct

Back in June, Bentancur joked in a TV interview in his home country about his South Korean teammate Heung-Min Son that you couldn’t tell him apart from his cousin: “They all look the same.” The interview was only published in September. The FA then launched an investigation into serious misconduct.

Bentancur had already apologized publicly and also to his teammate Son, but rejected the accusation of racism. The Uruguayan described his remark as a “very bad joke” and stressed that he would “never intentionally say anything hurtful.”

The ban does not apply to the Europa League

The ban applies at the national level. This means Bentancur will miss Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League games against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea as well as the League Cup quarter-finals against Manchester United if the ruling stands.

Bentancur is available to his club for the upcoming games in the Europa League against AS Roma and Glasgow Rangers.