NOTE: This article has been edited from its original version based on new information posted by the club. See the bottom for the update.
In a decision that has raised eyebrows across the fanbase, Tottenham Hotspur has decided to appeal the FA disciplinary board’s decision to ban Rodrigo Bentancur for seven matches for racist comments on a YouTube video in June.
Bentancur was banned and fined £100k for making a comment about Son Heung-Min and other South Koreans looking “about the same” on a video posted to an Uruguayan football channel on YouTube. You can read about the seven match punishment, Bentancur’s argument, and the disciplinary panel’s ultimate ruling here. In appealing the ruling, the club is accepting the FA disciplinary panel’s conclusion that Bentancur knowingly made racially insensitive comments, but objecting to the length of the sanction.
Interestingly, the minimum sanction for breaches of FA Rule E3.1 and E3.2 is six matches; Bentancur’s violation was deemed to be on the lower end of the severity scale, but was given a one match increase due to the “aggravating factor” that he is a famous international footballer and the remarks were made on a YouTube channel with broad and wide-ranging reach.
Tottenham are supposedly appealing to reduce the length of the ban by one match from seven to six games, which in theory would mean Bentancur could return in time to feature in Spurs’ match vs. Liverpool on December 22 if the match ban starts immediately.
However, there are suggestions that Tottenham’s appeal could have as much to do with the timing of the suspension as the number of games Bentancur is suspended. According to The Athletic, Tottenham have the right to request that Bentancur’s ban be lifted during the appeals process, which would not only mean he could play in this weekend’s match at Manchester City, but also in any match that would take place during the appeals process. It’s unclear how long the appeals process would take, but if it’s a number of weeks, that shifts Bentancur’s ban forward and would potentially mean he would be available to play in more matches over the busy holiday fixture period. Bentancur is already available to play in Tottenham’s Europa League fixtures as the ban is domestic rather than European.
Spurs play a string of matches in December that are potentially season-defining and come very close together — vs. Fulham (Dec. 1), at Bournemouth (Dec. 5), vs. Chelsea (Dec. 8), at Southampton (Dec. 15), vs. United in the EFL Cup quarterfinal (Dec. 19), vs. Liverpool (Dec. 22), at Nottingham Forest (Dec. 26), and vs. Wolves (Dec. 29). Tottenham are struggling with injuries to their midfield and being additionally short a player during the busy holiday fixture period could be significant. If Bentancur is forced to miss the bulk of the December fixtures and something happens to Yves Bissouma, Spurs could be in deep trouble, forced to play 19-year-old midfielders Archie Gray and/or Lucas Bergvall in important matches that they may not be ready for. The thought is that by shifting Bentancur’s ban forward, Tottenham may be able to better weather his absence.
I do not know if this is actually Tottenham’s thinking in deciding to appeal the sanctions, nor whether a failed appeal would mean tacking on additional length to Bentancur’s match ban. On the surface, the optics of appealing a ban for racist conduct is pretty gross, whether or not you believe the length of sanctions is unreasonable or not.
But considering the circumstances if the above theory is true — and it should be pointed out that it is only a theory — it does provide at least a plausible, if cynical, reason for doing so. The original incident happened in June, and Spurs are only now getting the final decision, five months later, at a time when they will be significantly impacted on the field by Bentancur’s absence. By accepting the decision but appealing the sentence, and asking to have the implementation of the ban delayed during the appeals process, Spurs could play the system enough to get them through a tricky and condensed period. The optics of the appeal may be bad — and fans do not need to accept this reasoning as valid or even plausible — but the end result could play in the club’s favor.
UPDATE: Tottenham just released a statement on its website that clearly indicates that Bentancur’s ban will remain in place throughout the appeals process.
We can confirm that the Club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s FA suspension, issued earlier this week.
While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe.
Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard and the Club will make no further comment during this time.
So, basically you can ignore everything about the theory I posted about deferring the timing of Bentancur’s sanctions. The best case scenario now is a one-match reduction in his sanction from seven matches to six, meaning he’d be available to return in time for the Liverpool match.
I’m now more confused about this appeal than ever. The optics of appealing a ban for racist comments remains gross and awful, and the appeal would have a minimal benefit to the club. It’s also not clear whether failure in the appeal would have any material impact (i.e. lengthening) of Bentancur’s sanctions, but I guess we just need to trust that the club is acting in its own best interest at this point.
