Tottenham Hotspur have seen their appeal against Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-game suspension dismissed.
Bentancur was given a seven-game suspension and £100,000 fine by the Football Association (FA) after he said Tottenham team-mate Son Heung-min and his cousins “all look the same” during an interview on television programme Por La Camiseta, which is broadcast in the midfielder’s native Uruguay.
The 27-year-old denied the original FA charge and Spurs appealed against the sanction, which they described as “severe”. Tottenham’s appeal could only have reduced Bentancur’s ban down to six matches.
An independent appeals body confirmed the appeal had been dismissed on Tuesday morning.
Bentancur has missed Tottenham’s past five Premier League games and will remain unavailable for Sunday’s game against Liverpool and Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United. His first match back could be the trip to Nottingham Forest on December 26.
Though he has been suspended domestically, Bentancur has remained eligible to feature in Tottenham’s Europa League fixtures.
This season, Bentancur has made 10 Premier League appearances and five in Europe, including last Thursday’s 1-1 draw at Rangers.
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(Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
