Tottenham appeal against Bentancur's 'severe' ban

Tottenham person appealed against the magnitude of Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-game home prohibition for a racist slur made astir team-mate Son Heung-min, saying the Football Association punishment is "severe".

Spurs accidental they judge the blameworthy uncovering by an autarkic regulatory commission, which besides fined the subordinate £100,000 and ordered him to instrumentality portion successful a mandatory face-to-face acquisition programme.

It came aft helium was charged by the FA successful September for comments made portion appearing connected TV successful his location state of Uruguay successful June.

Bentancur, who denied the charge, is presently suspended from home matches until 26 December.

He volition miss Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea among others, positive Spurs' League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United, but is disposable for Spur's Europa League matches.

The Uruguay midfielder volition stay suspended domestically portion the entreaty is heard.

When charging the Uruguay planetary the FA said it was "an alleged breach of FA regularisation E3 for misconduct successful narration to a media interview".

The FA said this constituted an "aggravated breach arsenic it included a reference, whether explicit oregon implied, to nationality and/or contention and/or taste origin".

The committee said specified a breach "requires an contiguous suspension of 6-12 matches".

In the media interrogation successful question, asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur replied: "Sonny's? It could beryllium Sonny's relative excessively arsenic they each look the same."

He aboriginal apologised connected societal media and said his comments were a "very atrocious joke".

Bentancur besides said atrocious to South Korea guardant Son, who said helium would "not mean to ever intentionally accidental thing offensive".

Spurs said successful a statement: "We tin corroborate that the nine has appealed against the magnitude of Rodrigo Bentancur's FA suspension, issued earlier this week.

"While we judge the blameworthy uncovering against Rodrigo by the autarkic regulatory commission, we judge the consequent authorisation is severe."

A effect to the complaint sent by Tottenham connected behalf of Bentancur said: "Rodrigo's reply was sarcastic and a gentle rebuke for the writer calling Sonny 'the Korean'".

"Rodrigo does not judge that each Koreans 'look much oregon little the same'. The discourse of the speech intelligibly shows Rodrigo is being sarcastic. Rodrigo was challenging the writer successful his statement of his nine team-mate."

It was besides submitted that Bentancur's apology for his comments was "not for what helium said, but for the inadequate reporting connected the interrogation which excluded" the presenter's notation to Son arsenic "the Korean".

However, the sheet concluded Bentancur's "conduct successful utilizing the words helium did, successful the afloat discourse successful which they were used, was intelligibly abusive and insulting, and would magnitude to misconduct".

They recovered that the apologies made by him look to amusement helium accepted helium had caused offence and a connection from Spurs, outer successful effect to his apologies, "appears to person accepted that the player's remarks had been objectively insulting and/or abusive and discriminatory".

The sheet said they could not judge the submission of Bentancur arsenic it "flies successful the look of the evidence" and "does not beryllium with the contented oregon signifier of the player’s apologies oregon the effect of THFC oregon Son Heung-min".

In determining the sanction, the autarkic regulatory committee took into relationship Bentancur had nary erstwhile offences, did not mean to origin offence and, "despite the submissions made connected his behalf earlier america which tended to undermine the unit of that aboriginal apology, we see his remorse was and is genuine".

It added: "In each the circumstances, we see that, successful presumption of culpability and consequences, this breach falls towards the little extremity of the line scope but not the lowest point."