Tottenham Hotspur are set to appeal the FA’s decision to hand Rodrigo Bentancur a seven-match suspension over a racially insensitive comment he made about his teammate Heung-min Son.
Verdict has shocked Tottenham’s Premier League rivals
The FA’s independent regulatory commission decided to hand Bentancur a seven-match suspension and fine him £100,000 as his comments were seen as an ‘aggravated breach’ of rule Rule E3.1.
The decision has caused plenty of controversy, with previous reports indicating that many clubs across the Premier League were left shocked by the length of the ban.
The feeling among clubs is that Tottenham and Rodrigo Bentancur had been made an example of, with the midfielder’s initial apology used against him.
Tottenham set to appeal Rodrigo Bentancur decision
The Telegraph have now revealed that Spurs will appeal the verdict by the FA’s independent regulatory commission regarding Bentancur‘s ban.
It is explained that the Lilywhites are not appealing the guilty verdict, but they are instead challenging the length of the suspension, which exceeded the minimum six games stipulated by the FA for racist abuse.
The report says that while Tottenham are hoping to reduce Bentancur’s ban, it is unlikely to be reduced below the minimum six-game threshold, even though more lenient punishments have been handed in other similar cases in the past.
What is Spurs’ main point of contention?
The Telegraph state that the sanctioning guidelines allow regulatory commissions to ban players for less than six matches if the offence is only in writing or through a communication device.
In Bentancur’s case, since his comments were delivered in a spoken interview, the commission ruled that it was an aggravated breach and his suspension cannot be less than six matches.
However, the publication points out that the clip of the interview was seen by most people as a result of it being widely shared on social media, thus complicating matters.