Rodrigo Bentancur has apologised to Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Son Heung-min after saying the South Korea international and his cousins “all look the same” during a TV broadcast.
The 26-year-old midfielder made the comments on the football programme Por la Camiseta, which is broadcast in his native Uruguay.
Bentancur said of his Spurs team-mate Son during the broadcast: “Sony, or a cousin of Sony, they all look the same.”
The midfielder later took to his social media account to issue an apology to the 31-year-old South Korean.
“Sony, brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste,” said Bentancur. “You know that I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”
In November, a supporter who made a racist gesture towards Son during last year’s Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace was banned from attending football matches for three years.
Bentancur has scored seven goals in 68 appearances for Tottenham since joining from Juventus in January 2022, while Son has 162 goals in 408 matches since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
Tottenham will be travelling to Japan and South Korea on their pre-season tour ahead of the 2024-25 season; they are scheduled to play Japanese side Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on July 26 before playing Bayern Munich in Seoul on August 2.
(Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
