Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association (FA) for saying that all South Korean people “look the same” during a television appearance.
In a clip posted on social media from Uruguayan Television programme Por La Camiseta, host Rafa Cotelo asked Bentancur for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied, “Sonny’s?” [Son Heung-Min], adding: “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
English football’s governing body said in a statement that the 27-year-old had been “charged with an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a 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.
“It’s further alleged that this constitutes an ‘aggravated breach’ which is defined in FA Rule E3.2. as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to a nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”
FA laws state that “match-based sanctions of six to 12 games will be recommended to regulatory commissions for almost all acts of discrimination by individual participants.”
The Uruguay international apologised on June 20 in a post on Instagram for the remark that he said was a “very bad joke.” Five days later Son said that Bentancur had accepted that he had made a “mistake” and that he had accepted his teammate’s apology.
“He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised. Lolo [Bentancur] would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all,” the Spurs captain said in a post on social media.
“We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one.”
Bentancur has until Sept. 19 to provide a response to the FA’s charge.
Tottenham face Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday where Ange Postecoglou’s team will be looking to dent their arch-rivals’ title ambitions and earn a statement victory in the Premier League.
