Tottenham’s Bentancur charged with misconduct over remarks about teammate Son which will be fined…
Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was charged by the Football Association on Thursday over an alleged misconduct breach for a remark made on Uruguayan TV about team-mate Son Heung-min.
The Uruguay international had been asked in June by the host of the Canal 10 show for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
British anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said it had received a “significant number” of complaints related to the comment.
Bentancur apologised to the South Korea international and Spurs skipper, who said his team-mate had “made a mistake”.
A statement from the FA said Bentancur had been charged with an alleged breach of its rules in relation to a media interview.
“It’s alleged that the Tottenham midfielder has breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute,” the statement said.
“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 nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”
Bentancur has until September 19 to provide a response to the charge.
Former Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani was banned for three games and fined £100,000 ($130,000) in 2020 for using the Spanish term “negrito” (small black person) in a social media post.
Tadej Pogacar returns to competitive action for the first time since his Tour de France triumph looking for wins in the Grand Prix races in Quebec and Montreal.
The UAE team leader pulled out of the Paris Olympics citing tiredness after winning a third Tour title in July.
The Slovenian will be favourite to succeed Belgian Arnaud De Lie and Britain’s Adam Yates, winners in Quebec and Montreal respectively last year.
The two races are circuits with 16 laps in Quebec on Friday and 17 in Montreal on Sunday, and with extremely demanding repetitive climbs.
Pogacar is building towards the world championships in Zurich from September 21 to 29.
He is aiming for a hat-trick of the world title, the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, only held by two men, Ireland’s Stephen Roche and Belgian Eddy Merckx.
“I took advantage of the summer at home, I went to the beach. I hadn’t done that for a few years. I made the right decision,” said the 25-year-old.
“I trained well. In general, my recovery races after a long break always go well.”
Rivals include De Lie who achieved his first World Tour success last year, Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe and Australian Michael Matthews.
The only two World Tour races on the American continent will also be a rehearsal for the 2026 world championships in Montreal.
