Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has revealed how Rodrigo Bentancur reacted when the two players saw each other again in pre-season after the latter’s derogatory comments about the Spurs skipper.
Bentancur has been charged by the Football Association with misconduct for the remark he made about Son during an interview Uruguayan television show La Camiseta over the summer.
Asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur replied, as transcribed by the Evening Standard: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too, as they all look the same.”
The midfielder could face a ban of up to 12 games if found guilty of discrimination by an independent tribunal.
Bentancur apologised on June 20 in a post on Instagram for the remark that he said was a “very bad joke”.
Five days later, Son said that he had accepted his teammate’s apology.
The Tottenham captain wrote on social media, as transcribed by ESPN: “He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised.
“Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.
“We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in preseason to fight for our club as one.”
Now, Son has spoken about Bentancur ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League meeting with Qarabag FK, as per football.london.
Son says Bentancur was ‘almost crying’ about derogatory comment
Asked about his relationship with Bentancur, Son said: “I love Rodrigo. I love him. We’ve had a lot of good memories.
“He knew and he apologised straight afterwards. I was on holiday and didn’t even know what happened.
“He sent me a long text and you could tell it was from his heart. He then saw me at training and he was almost crying. He felt really sorry.
“We’re all human and we make mistakes. I love Rodrigo and we move on together as a brother. We just have to wait for the FA’s process and that’s all I can say.”
READ MORE: ‘Exciting’… Tottenham fans spot two players missing from U21s squad ahead of Qarabag clash
What has the FA said about Bentancur charge?
The FA said in a statement that Bentancur had been “charged with an alleged breach of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.”
“It’s alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought into disrepute.
“It’s further alleged that this constitutes an ‘aggravated breach’ which is defined in FA Rule E3.2. as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to a nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”
FA laws state that “match-based sanctions of six to 12 games will be recommended to regulatory commissions for almost all acts of discrimination by individual participants.”
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