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Tottenham’s appeal to reduce Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match ban over comments he made about team-mate Son Heung-min has been dismissed.
The Uruguay midfielder was given the suspension by an independent commission on November 18 and two days later, Spurs indicated they would appeal.
On Tuesday, the Football Association confirmed an appeal board had dismissed Tottenham’s challenge against that sanction.
“This appeal was dismissed following a hearing, and the seven-match suspension remains as ordered by the regulatory commission,” the governing body said in a statement.
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 standard minimum ban where such a breach is established is six matches, but Spurs said they felt the sanction was “severe” when confirming their intention to appeal.
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.”
Bentancur apologised on Instagram to Son for his remarks and Son accepted that apology in a statement on the same platform.
Lolo (Bentancur) would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed
Son Heung-min
“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 original panel said it felt the breach fell “towards the lower end of the (sanctioning) guideline range but not the lowest point”.
It added: “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.
The appeal board’s written reasons for dismissing Spurs’ challenge have not yet been published.
Kick It Out said in a statement: “Kick It Out received more reports about Tottenham’s decision to appeal against the discrimination sanction for Rodrigo Bentacnur than the original incident itself.
“Many of the reports from the East and Southeast Asian community and beyond told us how angry and disappointed they were with the club’s actions and how it extended the pain for those who were affected by the original incident.
“We know this has been an upsetting episode for many fans and hope the club will now reflect on its decision and how it might seek to engage with the community.
“The number of reports to Kick It Out over recent seasons shows that more education is needed to highlight East and Southeast Asian racism in football, and we would urge clubs to tackle this in the same manner as other forms of discrimination.
“We await the written reasons for the dismissal of the appeal with keen interest.”
