Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-game ban has got Tottenham supporters asking questions about the consistency of the FA's decisions, namely the situation this year regarding Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.
Bentancur was handed a seven-game ban from domestic competitions on Monday by an independent regulatory commission, along with a £100,000 fine for his comments to a reporter regarding Spurs captain Son Heung-min. Tottenham have a set amount of time to decide whether to appeal the decision or not.
The Uruguayan will miss six Premier League games and the Carabao Cup quarter-final with Manchester United, before being able to return to action on Boxing Day. As it is a domestic ban, the 27-year-old is able to play in Tottenham's two Europa League matches against Roma and Glasgow during the period.
The commission proved the charge that the Tottenham midfielder 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. It was 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 responded in the interview with a Uruguayan media outlet when asked about "the Korean's shirt" by the reporter: "Sonny? Or one of Sonny’s cousins as they all look more or less the same."
After the ban was announced on Monday, some Tottenham supporters asked why if Bentancur had been charged and punished, an incident in July involving Chelsea's Fernandez had not been addressed by the FA.
The Blues midfielder was filmed singing derogatory songs, including racial and homophobic slurs about members of the French national team. The chants were called out by some of his Chelsea team-mates and the Argentine was investigated by Chelsea. He later made a donation to an anti-discrimination charity and apologised to his team-mates.
However, the incident fell outside of the FA's jurisdiction because he was on international duty at the time, at the Copa America with his country. That meant it fell instead to FIFA, who previously said they were looking into the matter. The French Football Federation also indicated at the time that they would be filing a legal complaint over the chants.
With Bentancur, his interview was published in June online but according to documents from the hearing over the case this month it was filmed the day after Spurs' match at home against Nottingham Forest in April. That meant it fell within the FA's jurisdiction and a charge could be brought.
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