Yves Bissouma picked up nine yellow cards and was sent off twice in the Premier League last season — a disciplinary record that saw him suspended for five of Tottenham Hotspur’s 38 matches in the competition — but his latest ban is down to his behaviour away from the pitch.
Earlier this week, footage emerged of the Spurs midfielder appearing to inhale nitrous oxide from a balloon. Bissouma posted the video of himself on a private account on social media app Snapchat.
Nitrous oxide — more commonly known as laughing gas, nos or hippie crack — is classified as a Class C drug in the United Kingdom and its recreational use has been a criminal offence since 2023, carrying a maximum two-year prison sentence. It can damage the throat and lungs and is known to cause paranoia, dizziness and hallucinations.
Want to stay up to date with the best news and features as the Premier League season kicks off? Sign up (for free) to The Athletic FC newsletter
Bissouma apologised for the incident and called it a “severe lack of judgement”. The 27-year-old has been punished by the club with a one-game suspension, which means he is unavailable for their opening fixture of the new season away against Leicester City on Monday night.
“He has made a really poor decision,” Tottenham’s head coach Ange Postecoglou said. “You want to understand that and try to help him through that, and as a club (see) what we can do to make sure he doesn’t make those kinds of choices and decisions in the future. Within that context, there are still sanctions that are involved and some of those sanctions include education and giving him a clearer understanding of why he did what he did and how wrong it was.
“He is also a footballer. He has a responsibility to his team-mates, to our supporters and to everyone associated with the club — and he failed in those duties. There have got to be sanctions for that. He won’t be available for Monday. Beyond that, there is also some trust-building that needs to happen between Biss and me and Biss and the group. That’s what he needs to work hard at from now on, to try to win that back, and that has nothing to do with just one game.”
According to data on the UK government’s website, nitrous oxide is commonly used by people aged between 16 and 24. Its popularity peaked in the years 2019-20, when 8.7 per cent of that demographic used it and that dropped to 3.9 per cent in 2021-22. As a role model to young fans, Bissouma should set a better example. Instead of fining him or ordering him to do some work with the local community, Tottenham have acted strongly with the ban.
However, their moral stance regarding Bissouma taking nitrous oxide jars when you compare their response to another of their midfielders, Rodrigo Bentancur, and his racist comments towards team-mate Son Heung-min, Spurs’ captain, earlier this summer. Bentancur said that Son and his cousins “all look the same” during an appearance on the television programme Por la Camiseta, broadcast in his native Uruguay, in June.
He subsequently issued an apology to the forward, also captain of South Korea’s national team, on social media. “Sonny, brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste,” Bentancur said. “You know that I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”
A few days later, Son confirmed he had spoken to the 27-year-old South American. “He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” he said. “Lolo (Bentancur’s nickname) 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.”
Postecoglou was asked about the episode after Tottenham’s first game of this pre-season against Scottish club Heart of Midlothian last month.
“The most important person in that whole process is Sonny, so he’ll guide us and he’ll direct us,” Postecoglou said. “It’s being dealt with, and I’m sure there will be further actions behind it. With all of these kinds of things, it’s easier to jump in and make judgements. But I always think the most important people are the ones affected and, in this case, it’s Sonny and we’ll be guided by him.”
The problem with that approach is it places the burden on finding a resolution at Son’s feet. He is a victim here, and he should not be expected to determine the appropriate punishment.
For their part, the club say they are still waiting to see whether Bentancur will be charged by the Football Association for his comments before deciding their next steps. The FA has been contacted for comment.
As it stands, a public apology does not feel like an adequate response. Bentancur saying “it was a joke in bad taste” suggests he does not fully understand the damage his comments caused and that further education is required.
If Bissouma has to rebuild trust within the dressing room for taking laughing gas, surely Bentancur needs to repair relationships after his racist comment, which will have directly impacted more people? According to research previously commissioned by AIA (the Asia-based insurance firm which has been the club’s shirt-front sponsor since 2014), Spurs are supported by 12million South Koreans, which represents nearly a quarter of that country’s population.
Bentancur missed Tottenham’s pre-season tour to Japan and South Korea this summer as he was still on holiday after helping Uruguay to a third-place finish at the Copa America. It is a shame he was unavailable, as the trip would have offered him an opportunity to show contrition and learn why his words were harmful.
Kick It Out, the anti-discrimination and inclusion charity, received 1,332 reports of abuse during the 2023-24 Premier League season — a 33.2 per cent increase on the previous one. It says 731 (54 per cent) related to racism, and that a third of that 1,332 were about comments directed towards people with East Asian heritage.
Last November, a supporter who made a racist gesture towards Son during the home league fixture against Crystal Palace in May 2023 was banned from attending football matches for three years.
Kick It Out says it received “a significant” number of complaints about Bentancur’s remarks too, and that these had been “sent to the club and the relevant authorities”.
This is not the only example this summer of a Premier League club failing to sensitively handle one of their players making racist comments.
Enzo Fernandez issued a personal apology to Chelsea’s squad for singing a racist song about Black players in the French national team after winning the Copa America with Argentina last month. Fernandez told Chelsea he wanted to make a sizable donation to an anti-discrimination charity and the club planned to match it via their foundation. Apart from that, there were no consequences for his actions.
Bentancur and Fernandez are both role models, like Bissouma, but they have not been properly held to account.
The strange paradox here is that Bentancur could well be the beneficiary of Bissouma’s ban and start in place of him in midfield against Leicester on Monday.
(Top photos: Getty Images)