Al Jazeera English

Tottenham lose Bentancur ban appeal for racist comment about South Koreans

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Tottenham have lost their appeal against the severity of Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match ban for making an offensive comment about South Koreans in relation to a remark about Spurs teammate Son Heung-min.

The Football Association said Tuesday that Spurs’ appeal was dismissed following a hearing and the sanction stands, with the reasons for the decision published soon.

Bentancur has already been suspended for five domestic games, and will miss the English League Cup quarterfinal match against Manchester United on Thursday as well as the visit of Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

Appearing on a Uruguayan television show in June, Bentancur was asked for a Tottenham player’s jersey and replied, “Sonny’s?” He added it could be Son’s cousin, too, because “more or less they are all the same.”

Bentancur later apologised to Son on Instagram, saying it was a “very bad joke” and he would “never disrespect you or hurt you.” Son accepted the apology.

Details of the decision released by the independent commission showed that Bentancur explained his comments “were sarcastic and a gentle rebuke” for the journalist calling his teammate “The Korean” and that he challenged the reporter’s description of Son.

In its conclusions, the regulatory commission, however, wrote that “even on the basis of the player’s evidence and submissions, we consider the player’s conduct in using the words he did, in the full context in which they were used, was clearly abusive and insulting, and would amount to misconduct.”

The commission added that it also took into consideration the fact that Bentancur did not intend to offend Son or anyone else.

Bentancur was also issued with a fine of $126,000 by the commission.

Al Jazeera English

Man City vs Tottenham: Pep latest, kickoff time, team news, where to watch

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Who: Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur

What: English Premier League football

Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, United Kingdom

When: 5:30pm (17:30 GMT) on Saturday

How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have all the build-up and full text commentary of the game

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he would stay to the end of his contract with the Premier League champions even if they were relegated, a day after he signed a two-year extension that will keep him at the club until 2027.

Guardiola, who joined City in 2016, has won 18 trophies with the club, including six Premier League titles and their first Champions League.

City are embroiled in a hearing over alleged breaches of the league’s financial fair play rules, however, which could potentially see them face points deductions, a fine and relegation if found guilty. Guardiola has always defended City, saying he trusts the owners, and the Spaniard said relegation would not cause him to leave the club.

“I said six months ago when all the clubs accused us to have done something wrong, what happened if we are relegated – I will be here,” Guardiola told reporters before Saturday’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur. “Next year, if we are in the conference, we will come up to the Premier League. I knew it then. I feel it now.”

Guardiola said he had agreed a new deal in “just two hours”, and when asked why he signed a two-year extension, he joked, saying it was because he liked the Manchester weather. “It’s a good question. I don’t want next season – in September, October, November – ‘It’s the last year of Pep.’ I don’t want to be in that position,” he added.

“I would like to stay for two years, but I know if the results are not good, it will not be two years.”

Guardiola lost four matches in a row for the first time in his managerial career before the international break, but he brushed it aside, saying City are also the only club to win four league titles in a row.

“When you are here eight or nine years, you live all the scenarios and situations. You are able to lose four games in a row. At the same time, you are able to win four Premier Leagues in a row,” he said. “The difference is most teams are able to lose four in a row in different competitions, but just one team won four Premier Leagues in a row. Both sides of the coin can happen.”

But with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri sidelined for potentially the rest of the season, Guardiola was dealt another blow when Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic suffered an injury on international duty. “It will be a while, three weeks or a month, more or less,” Guardiola said.

Tottenham’s inconsistency has left them 10th in the standings, but manager Ange Postecoglou is paying little attention to their poor form and spoke in glowing terms about Guardiola, whom he got the better of in a League Cup victory this month.

“He’s fantastic for the Premier League. He keeps setting the standard, which is great for all of us trying to mow him down,” the Greek-Australian told reporters.

“It’s not easy to win in different countries, and I know that he’s been at big clubs, but as we’ve seen recently, that’s not necessarily transferable to winning things all the time. You’ve still got to do it.

“So he’s maintained a ridiculous level of excellence. The way his team plays, they’re always sort of challenging every opponent they face, and I guess his energy to maintain that for so long – it’s been outstanding.

“He’ll go down as one of the greats already, and the indication that he’s re-signed means there’s more to come.”

Manchester City team news

Ruben Dias remains sidelined while fellow defenders John Stones and Manuel Akanji have resumed training. Nathan Ake is also set to return to training to boost the beleaguered backline.

Tottenham Hotspur team news

Spurs have several players missing, including both their regular centre halves after Postecoglou confirmed that Cristian Romero would not be available along with Micky van de Ven.

Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancur will also be absent, having been hit with a seven-match ban by the Football Association for making a derogatory remark about teammate Son Heung-min. Tottenham have appealed the length of the ban.

Head-to-head

Manchester City have edged the 172 meetings so far with 68 victories to Tottenham’s 67.

Spurs have a remarkably good recent record, winning four of the last eight encounters. Their first meeting was in the FA Cup in 1909 with the away team winning 4-3 in Manchester.

Al Jazeera English

Tottenham appeal against length of Bentancur ban for racial slur on Son

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Tottenham have appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game suspension for his comments about teammate and South Korean star Son Heung-min.

Bentancur was banned by the Football Association on Monday, which ruled him out of six English Premier League fixtures and a League Cup quarterfinal against Manchester United.

The 27-year-old Uruguayan midfielder was charged with misconduct in September over a television interview he gave in his home country in June when his reference to Son’s race made it an aggravated breach. Tottenham, however, are unhappy with the number of games Bentancur will miss and released a statement on Wednesday confirming their intention to appeal.

“While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe,” the club statement read. “Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard, and the club will make no further comment during this time.”

Bentancur was asked during an interview to show the shirt of a Tottenham player and replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

He apologised on Instagram to Son for his remarks, and Son accepted that apology in a statement on the same platform. “I’ve spoken with Lolo [Bentancur]. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised,” the South Korea captain said. “Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.”

Bentancur was also fined 100,000 pounds ($126,000) with the disciplinary panel insisting it should have been “reasonably foreseeable” to him that his remarks about Son would be widely distributed.

The panel said they took into account as mitigation his apology and previous clean disciplinary record.

Al Jazeera English

Tottenham’s Bentancur banned for seven games over racist remark about Son

Submitted by daniel on

Tottenham Hotspur’s Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven matches after the Uruguayan made a racist remark about South Korean people when talking about teammate Son Heung-min during a television appearance, the English Football Association (FA) has said.

In a statement on Monday, the FA said the midfielder “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’… as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin,” the statement added.

In June, on Uruguayan television programme Por La Camiseta, host Rafa Cotelo asked Bentancur for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied, “Sonny’s?”, adding: “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”

Bentancur apologized later on Instagram, saying it was a “very bad joke” and he would “never disrespect you or hurt you”.

Son accepted the excuses, saying his teammate had made a mistake and “would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive”.

“We are brothers and nothing has changed at all,” Son said in June. “We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one.”

An independent commission also imposed a fine of 100,000 pounds ($126,000) on the player. The sanction can be appealed.

The suspension only covers domestic matches, meaning the 27-year-old Bentancur will be available to play for his London club in the Europa League. Spurs take on Roma in the league phase of the tournament on November 28.

The FA also ordered Bentancur to attend a “face-to-face education program”, details of which will be provided later. The course should be completed by March 11 next year.

“If the player fails to complete the program satisfactorily in that period, he will be immediately suspended from all domestic club football until such time as the mandatory program is completed,” the FA said.

Tottenham and Bentancur did not immediately react to the punishment.

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