Rodrigo Bentancur, Son Heung-min and the FA’s burden on Tottenham

Rodrigo Bentancur was the centre of attention at Ange Postecoglou’s press conference ahead of the north London derby for two very different reasons.

Bentancur is likely to start in Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield against Arsenal on Sunday, as Yves Bissouma suffered a groin injury in Mali’s 1-0 win over Eswatini on Tuesday. If that is the case, Bentancur will be responsible for taking out Kai Havertz in one of the most important one-on-one battles of the game.

It could be one of the 27-year-old’s last appearances for some time. On Thursday, he was charged with aggravated breach of English Football Association (FA) rules over comments he made about team-mate Son Heung-min three months ago. Bentancur said the Tottenham captain and his cousins ​​”all look alike” on the TV show Por La Camiseta, which airs in his native Uruguay. If he is found guilty or pleads no contest, he could be banned for six to 12 games. He has until September 19 to respond.

Bentancur apologised to Son on social media and said it was a “tasteless joke”. Tottenham later released a statement saying Son wanted to “put the incident behind him”.

When Postecoglou was first asked about this in July, he said: “The most important person in this whole process is Sonny, so he’s the one who will guide us and lead us. The file is being processed and I’m sure there will be other actions to be taken afterwards, but at the moment I think with all these things it’s easier to intervene and make judgments. But I always think the most important people are the ones who are involved and in this case it’s Sonny and he’s the one who will guide us.”

Given the timing of Bentancur’s comments, after the end of the domestic season and just before he represented Uruguay at the Copa America, the issue appears to have disappeared. He missed Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea because he was on holiday after the Copa America, but started their first Premier League game against Leicester City. Bissouma missed the 1-1 draw against Leicester because he had been suspended by the club for one game after footage emerged of him appearing to inhale nitrous oxide from a ball. Letting Bentancur off the hook but suspending Bissouma seems to be the wrong message. Tottenham have said they are waiting to see whether Bentancur will be charged by the FA before deciding what to do next.

On Friday, after the FA announced the charge, Postecoglou said Bentancur had made a “serious mistake” and “had to take the punishment”.

“We all make mistakes,” Postecoglou added. “I’ve said it before, for me this is not just a punishment, but an opportunity for people to redeem themselves and learn. If we want to have a society that is understanding and tolerant of everything, we also have to show it to people who make mistakes like Rodri did this time.”

Every week, Asian Spurs fans queue outside the training ground to try to catch a glimpse of Son. Lee, who lives near Seoul and has followed them for 16 years, said he was “annoyed” by Bentancur’s comments.

“Many fans in Korea said it was a shame,” he said. The Athletic“They were angry with the club. The club supports the (Premier League) ‘No Place for Racism’ campaign before games, but the fans were disappointed with their statement and treatment. I didn’t have a problem with that, but Bentancur needs to find a way to learn and take responsibility for his actions.”

Bentancur’s comments are “unacceptable,” according to Chris Ding, a student from China. “I would like to believe that he didn’t mean to hurt anyone intentionally, but as a fan, hearing that is very hurtful and offensive,” Ding said.

Anti-discrimination and inclusion charity Kick It Out received 1,332 reports of abuse during the 2023-24 Premier League season, a 33.2% increase on the previous season. The charity said 731 (54%) were related to racism, with a third of those comments directed at people of East Asian origin.

Last November, a fan who made a racist gesture towards Son during the home league game against Crystal Palace in May 2023 was banned from attending football matches for three years.

Kick It Out said it had also received “a significant number” of complaints about Bentancur’s comments, and that these had been “sent to the club and the relevant authorities”.

This is not the only alleged racist incident towards a South Korean player this summer. Hwang Hee-chan was the victim of an alleged racist remark during Wolverhampton Wanderers’ pre-season match against Como in July. Wolves said they would lodge a formal complaint with UEFA, but the Italian team accused them of “exaggerating the incident”.

“We have spoken to the defender in question to understand what was said,” said Mirwan Suwarso, official representative of the group that owns Como. “He told us that the comment he made to his co-defender was: ‘Ignore him, he thinks he’s Jackie Chan’.”

“After speaking at length with our player, we are confident that it was the player’s name and the constant references to ‘Channy’ made by his own teammates on the pitch. As far as our club is concerned, our player said nothing derogatory.”

Sungmo Lee is a South Korean journalist and he believes that “racism towards Asian players is treated very lightly or ignored.”

“Korean fans and perhaps more Asian fans think that when the Premier League and European leagues address racism, they mainly treat it as if it only affects black and white players,” he said. “But there are many Asian players in Europe who are victims of racism. The football authorities need to make it clear that racism against Asian players will be treated seriously.”

Ideally, this situation should have been resolved before the start of the season. Bentancur could have an important role to play in one of the biggest fixtures of the season, even if he faces a potentially lengthy suspension.

(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)