Rodrigo Bentancur’s appeal in relation to his seven-match suspension for a racist remark about team-mate Heung-Min Son in a TV interview has been dismissed.
Spurs appealed the original length of the ban and said in a statement that they accepted the guilty finding against Bentancur, but believed the subsequent sanction was severe. The 27-year-old was also fined £100,000 by the Football Association as part of the punishment.
However, his domestic suspension will now remain in place after the appeal decision.
A statement from the FA said: “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.”
Sky Sports News has approached Tottenham for comment.
Bentancur was sanctioned over comments he made in an interview aired on Uruguayan TV in June.
While an apology from Bentancur was swiftly forthcoming, due to this being an “aggravated breach”, an independent regulatory commission panel were required to either uphold the FA charge or dismiss the case.
Son said he and Bentancur remained “brothers” and “nothing had changed” after the Uruguayan immediately apologised to him, admitting he had “made a mistake”.
