'Tottenham seem like a lot of clubs - tough on racism until it involves their own'

Tottenham's appeal against the length of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-game suspension for his slur against South Korean people sends out the wrong message

With a racial slur, Rodrigo Bentancur insulted a nation of 52 million people, including his team-mate and captain.

But Spurs are upset because the Uruguayan midfielder is going to miss Liverpool at home. That is how it looks. You would have thought Tottenham Hotspur might be more sensitive than most when it comes to casual, but harmful, discrimination, but, instead, they believe Bentancur has been hard done by.

When asked in a TV interview in his homeland to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player, Bentancur replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.” It could not have been more offensive. And, in a different way, Spurs’ decision to appeal against the Football Association’s sanction of Bentancur could not be more offensive.

The next time Spurs take part in a Premier League campaign against racism and discrimination, just remember the day they objected to one of their players being punished with a seven-match ban for saying that all South Koreans look the same. As always in these types of cases, there will be a lot of whataboutery.

And what the punishment of Bentancur has most certainly done is highlight the absolute disgrace of Enzo Fernandez not yet being held to account for the racist song he and his Argentine team-mates sang about French players. Apparently, it is to do with jurisdiction. Well, whatever the jurisdiction issues, the assorted football authorities - FIFA and CONMEBOL, in particular - should be ashamed.

Just as Chelsea should be ashamed for the way they, effectively, swept the whole issue under the carpet. A month after his chant, they even made Fernandez captain, for goodness sake. A lot of clubs seem to be tough on racism and discrimination - but not when it involves one of their own.

It seems Spurs and the player’s legal representatives believed Bentancur’s contrition and immediate apology to Son Heung-min should have been mitigating factors. But what is less widely known - mainly because few can be bothered reading the independent commission’s written reasons for the punishment - is that Bentancur actually denied the misconduct charge and denied it was an aggravated breach.

He claimed his comment was - after the man interviewing him referred to Son as ‘the Korean’ - a “sarcastic and gentle rebuke … intended to be a light-hearted and jocular manner of chiding the journalist for his use of a generalisation that was wholly inappropriate.”

Rightly, the commission emphatically dismissed that defence. Bentancur might have apologised to Son but he tried to wriggle off the charge. And having been given a seven-game ban, which is only one more than the minimum tariff for such an offence, Spurs are now appealing against the sanction, believing it to be “severe”.

If the minimum he could have got was six, Tottenham are, presumably, just trying to get him available for what will be number seven - that home match against Liverpool on December 22. But what is ‘severe’ here is Tottenham’s lack of judgement, Tottenham’s lack of sensitivity.

One of the club’s players has made a racial slur. Take the punishment, educate him and try to be better. And don’t worry about Liverpool at home.

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