Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon
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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will serve his full seven-game suspension an independent appeal board dismissed an appeal from the player. Bentancur was hit with the ban by the FA for a racist remark made about teammate Son Heung-Min and the South Korea national side during the summer.
The 27-year-old has already missed key matches against Chelsea and Manchester City after missing five matches. He was also handed a £100,000 fine by the FA as the results of an investigation were confirmed last month. The denial of the appeal means he will be out of Thursday's Carabao Cup clash at home to Manchester United and miss Sunday's Premier League clash with Liverpool.
An FA statement read: "An independent Appeal Board has dismissed an appeal by Rodrigo Bentancur in relation to his recent suspension. An independent Regulatory Commission imposed a seven-match suspension on the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder for an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview. This appeal was dismissed following a hearing, and the seven-match suspension remains as ordered by the Regulatory Commission. The Appeal Board’s written reasons for its decision will be published in due course."
Liverpool will be boosted by the return of Arne Slot and Andy Robertson on Sunday after both men were hit with one-game bans. Robertson was sent off against Fulham on Saturday while Slot picked up his third yellow card of the season. The Reds' involvement in the Carabao Cup in midweek means the pair will be banned against managerless Southampton at St Mary's rather than serving their respective suspensions in the Premier League.
Slot addressed his touchline suspension ahead of the Reds' trip to Southampton: "I think in general I am calm, but, I don't know if it is smart to say this, but there is also a limit for me - let's put it that way - and then I can get emotional. Unfortunately that limit is only reached by refereeing decisions, more so than the decision my players make, because they make more good decisions than the referees do. In my opinion. For my team. The Chelsea game was emotional. We should have had a second penalty but the VAR changed it. This game I think there were a lot of controversial decisions being made. So, as I said, the Chelsea game was emotional and maybe I should stay just underneath [the line] than going above. It is what it is."
A Premier League statement also confirmed because Robertson was shown a straight red, his ban could be served in another domestic competition. It read: "The Scot received a red card in Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Fulham after denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. He won't miss any Premier League matches, however, as he will serve his ban in the EFL Cup quarter-final versus Southampton in midweek."