Spurs' Bentancur potentially facing six to twelve-match ban after being charged by the FA

Bad news for Tottenham just days ahead of the much-anticipated London derby against Arsenal. The FA reported that it has moved to investigate statements made by Rodrigo Bentancur on Uruguayan television in which he joked about Son Heung-min's ethnicity.

"Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview," the FA statement began.

"It is alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has breached FA Rule E3.1 by acting improperly and/or using abusive and/or insulting words and/or bringing the game into disrepute. It is further alleged that this constitutes an ‘aggravated offence’ which is defined in FA Rule E3.2 as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin," the FA elaborated in the explanation.

Rodrigo Bentancur will be able to provide details and respond to the allegation until Thursday 19th September 2024, after which the FA will make a decision. The fact that the player has already apologised and his team-mate has accepted the apology does not exempt Bentancur from a possible sanction and the FA has punished other players in similar situations before.

The events date back to the start of the summer, when Bentancur responded to a journalist's request for a Son Heung-min shirt by joking that all South Koreans ‘"look the same". The midfielder immediately apologised on social media and recalled that he has a good relationship with his Spurs team-mate: "Sonny, bro! Sorry for what happened, it was just a really bad joke. You know I adore you and I would never try to disrespect you or hurt you, I love you brother!"

For his part, Son Heung-min tried to defuse the issue on his own social media and also in a Tottenham statement: "I have spoken to 'Lolo'. He made a mistake, he is aware of it and has apologised. He didn't mean anything offensive intentionally. We are brothers and nothing has changed for us".